Dark Star
by ThisAccountSupportsLoki
Summary: Fresh from the throes of torture, Loki has devised a plan to gain his freedom again. His mind has been violated, his body broken over and over again. This is his last-ditch effort to save himself before his mind is truly too wounded to even care about surviving anymore. Slowburn.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter re-edited as of 7/30/19_

 _Hello! Thank you so much for checking out this story, I own nothing except Sofiya. This story takes place during Avengers 1, 2, 3, 4 (Spoilers - more characters live, and there is no (relative to this fic) main character death),_

 _Just a quick note - this story takes place in kind of two parts, the first takes place during Avengers 1, and then a_ small time _jump (with a chapter or two of scenes during this time jump) and the story will pick up towards the end of Age of Ultron._

 _I played around a lot with this and there was simply no other way around this very small time jump. Firstly, I felt like if I had waited until Avengers 2 to start the story, Sofiya would not have been as careless about standing up to Loki and opposing him on some issues. Also, I needed Loki to have been through Avengers 1 and Thor: the dark world for him to progress his … less negative views about humanity._

 _So as a warning for part one of this story Sofiya will be more impulsive and - I would not say immature but - in the process of developing her maturity as an adult in part 1. Her strong independence and character will be clear in part 2 though as Part 1 had a major role in shaping these attributes._

 _Also, I love reviews, guess about where the story will be going, and anything else (except hate, if you don't like then don't read)_

 _Chapter warning(s) - violence, briefly graphic_

 _Future warning - Very strong sexual content, this is a slow burn fic though so it will not be straight off the bat. I am actually excited to incorporate two specific scenes that I have not seen in any other fanfics or novels. I would say on a 1-10 kink level they are 2-4_.

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Sofiya stood in her father's office in SHIELD headquarters. As she observed her father, she could not help but recognize the same brown and almond-shaped eyes she saw when she looked in the mirror. More than not Sofiya wished she shared no features with the man in front of her.

The overly pristine and ostentatious office was filled to the brim with bodies. Her father being one of the important World Security Councilmen, he always had a team of people around him. Then there were also her bodyguards as well as her fathers taking their places at strategic points around the room. Sofiya had always found it futile to have bodyguards on alert when they were in one of the most secure compounds in the world.

"I am very disappointed in you," his voice demanded as it carried across the room demanding the attention of everyone present and he hadn't even raised his voice. Sofiya had to give her father credit, he played the part of over-controlling leader very well. It took a great deal of effort to configure her facial muscles to take on the part of guilty and shameful when all she wanted to do was laugh and roll her eyes.

"Yes, sir." It did not even bother her that she was being chastised in a room full of people. Anyone with half a brain would see that his reasoning was idiotic. Afterall she had only missed a date with a man (calling him a man was a stretch).

She knew her father meant well enough in his own head, but she would not be subjected to having every step of her life planned out. Academically and career-wise she was fine with him 'controlling' her every move. But that was only because she had manipulated her way into getting exactly what she wanted. Sofiya drew the line at him trying to control her personal life. It was not the 16th century. Sofiya could damn well choose who she wanted to date on her own.

"I simply lost track of time. I didn't mean to miss meeting up with Charlie." Sofiya's words could not be further from the truth, but hopefully, it would help him to get along with his speech and she would be on her way home faster.

"Then how would you explain ditching your bodyguards? Did you simply lose track of them as well?" Maybe she wouldn't be home as soon as she wanted to be after all.

Sofiya was about to answer when the alarm went off. Not simply an alarm but - The Alarm. She found it brilliant SHIELD had multiple alarms, it was rather efficient. As the evacuation alarm blared, everyone in the room took action.

Sofiya found herself oddly calm, considering what could be going on unbeknownst to her. Knowing her behavior was most likely due to being raised in a family of politicians, she gritted her teeth for a second at the thought of actually having something to thank her father for. Sofiya had been raised no, trained was a better word, to always act perfectly in case there was a camera or reporter around.

She hated that type of lifestyle, having to blindly stand behind her family even as they preached things she did not agree with. Every time she rebelled, her father would tighten his leash on her, but that did not stop her. These rebellious acts took many forms. Though most frequently she refused to go to the many charity events held by companies that pocketed their donations.

"We will finish this conversation later," her father said as he entered the code to open his filing cabinet just as someone came to his side with a bag. They started filling the bag with papers just as one of her bodyguards tugged on her elbow.

She turned around to see it was Jason who was asking for her attention. Jason had been with her for the last ten years. He was the one to pick her up from school when her parents were too busy to do so — the one to go with her instead of stopping her from sneaking out. Jason played the role of father better than her biological dad did. Then again, her mother and father's parenting skills were meager. They did excel at maintaining a dictatorship in the household though.

"Miss Marshal?" Jason asked and held his hand out for her to go ahead out the door, she gave him a grin. Once they were far enough away he continued, "Perfectly timed alarm. Seems quite the coincidence."

"I swear I had nothing to do with this one," she said and couldn't help but feel flattered. Once out of sight of her father, the fear finally started to stream through her thoughts. If SHIELD was evacuating, that was not an order to be taken lightly.

There had to be a grave threat to give that type of order. Her imagination ran wild with scenarios involving monsters from other planets and even some monsters from her own. What if they had the Hulk on-premises and something had happened? She knew he was in hiding but could you really trust any information SHIELD was the source of?

"Expected arrival, ten minutes," Jason spoke into his wrist piece.

"Sooo?" She asked as they rounded a corner.

"There is a possibility of an explosion. Evacuation is just a precaution," Sofiya knew Jason meant well, but his words only made her feel worse. That was exactly the thing she suspected would be said to keep everyone calm in the face of a real emergency.

"Brillant," she replied unsuccessfully keeping her voice from quivering slightly.

A few minutes and flights of stairs later and Sofiya was out of breath. The group had almost made it back to the underground parking garage when footsteps could be heard echoing from behind them. A wave of unease washed over her. They had passed several people on their way to the garage, but there was something different about these new arrivals.

Glancing over her shoulder she knew that her feeling had been right and they were in trouble. The small glimpse she had peeked revealed several figures.

It was clear who was leading the entourage, not just from the way he towered above the others but because of how he captured her attention.

The tall figure that towered over the others was walking with purpose. Sofiya had the feeling that anyone who tried to get in his way would be cast aside without a care. Just a glimpse at him was all her brain needed to sound sirens. From the armor he wore to the green cape flowing behind him, Sofiya knew he was not from Earth.

Though considering he still had human characteristics she guessed he was Asgardian, he could have been from somewhere else since her knowledge on extraterrestrial life was limited. She chanced another glimpse and their eyes caught for just a moment as he scanned over her group. Those eyes were cold and calculating, and she got the impression he thought her group inferior. Instincts told her she needed to run, but she was unable to command her limbs to do so.

Another glance back and this time she was able to break the hold he had on her attention and check out the rest of the people. Noticing Barton and Erik her thoughts drew a blank, they were not the type to follow someone with ill intent and that was exactly what the tall figure's presence alluded to.

Barton had his hand on his bow just as Erik had his hand on the handle of a briefcase. Something was wrong though, even from a distance she could see that the color of their eyes was off. She caught Barton's eye before turning her head from the interesting group.

"She could be useful to you," Barton's voice carried through the hall. Standing up straighter Sofiya looked at her side to Jason, speeding up as she saw the grim look shadowing his face. There was no doubt Barton was talking about her, the only female in the area.

"How so?" The questioned echoed down the hall, she gulped. Sofiya didn't know for sure to whom the voice belonged, but she would bet on it belonging to the Asgardian. His voice gave an air of sovereignty more so than her fathers ever did.

"She is the daughter of a World Security Councilman," Barton answered.

"Take her."

The order purred down the corridor and not a second later she felt Jason's hand on her back pushing her forward. Glancing up she locked eyes with Jason just as he placed something in her hand. Before she even looked down she knew by the chill of the metal against her palm what the item was.

The two guards walking in front of her fell behind and she could hear the click of their guns as they took up a defensive position. Sofiya jumped and covered her ears as a small explosion sounded followed by the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the floor. It felt as if her heart would break through her chest and she tried desperately to quell the panic that was building in her stomach.

Her breath caught as Jason suddenly stilled beside her. The hand not holding the gun came to cover her mouth as she stared in shock at the arrow tip protruding from Jason's forehead. Sofiya's heart stopped in the moment it took for him to fall to the ground. It was too much for her mind to process so suddenly and she froze.

"No," she whispered feebly and used all her will to break through the panic coursing through her. Relying on the hours of self-defense training that had been pounded into her memory over the years Sofiya mechanically went through the motions of readying her gun, facing her target, taking position and firing.

The Asgardian did not even flinch as the bullet was deflected off his chest, she fired again with the same result. His walk did not falter, confidence still radiating with the impact of each step even as her second bullet was deflected off his shoulder.

"Stop your futile efforts human. I would kill you for even aiming your weapon at me, but I need you alive to be of use."

He casually waved his hand and her gun was pulled from her gasp slamming into the wall to the left. Her jaw dropped and she froze like a deer caught in headlights as he got closer. He raised an eyebrow at her as he approached. Without faltering, leaned down, sliding an arm around her lower back throwing Sofiya over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

Her mind had short-circuited, in fear or panic, she could not tell. She tried to fight her body to unfreeze but it wasn't working, she needed to relax. How the hell was she supposed to relax in this situation? Her defense training faltered as she took in her situation.

Sofiya's captor obviously had some type of magical abilities, not to mention he was immune to bullets. And if the ease at which he had picked her up was any indicator, he was stronger than humans. Her mind worked in overdrive, but she could not come up with any plan using force to escape.

"Do not cause problems child," he sneered and what little headway Sofiya had made in breaking the ice that had frozen her was lost at the sound of his voice.

Her mind still working, she opted not to reply and instead place her effort into thinking of how best to get out of this situation. Just then a colossal rumble vibrated through the building. Her captor was on his way out, given the fact of his abilities, being with him was probably the safest place to be if the building came down on top of them.

She watched the floor turn to cement and knew they had reached the parking garage. A moment later and she was thrown into the back of a truck. Yelping at the impact and Sofiya raised her head in time to see the Asgardian getting in the truck bed as well.

Sofiya scurred into a corner and grabbed on just as the truck jerked forward. One thing was clear, if she was going to get out of this situation, it would be with her mind and not by force. Without looking at her, he waved his hand, and she felt something latch onto her ankle.

Looking down she did not see anything. Trying to seek out the chain she felt on the skin of her ankle with her fingers, but her search was fruitless. She moved her foot and felt the weight of the chain, there went her plan of jumping out of the truck when no one was looking.

He paid her no attention as his eyes scanned everything around him. For the first time, Sofiya got a good look at the scepter he was holding. In any other situation, she would have rolled her eyes at the blatant display of power shown in the ornate gold design. From the little time she had spent in his presence, the piece seemed like a good fit for his personality.

A glowing orb was trapped at its apex. Narrowing her eyes, she was able to see that the cloudy decorations she thought had been etched into the orb were actually moving.

Who was this guy? She took a moment to observe him again. Since Thor's visit to Earth, she (and probably millions of other people) had read about the myths and childhood stories revolving around the Asgardians. The pieces fell into place and the ice that had frozen her in panic shattered at her surprise in the realization of who sat not a meter in front of her.

"Loki," Sofiya breathed in disbelief just as the truck took a sharp turn and she held on as not to test if the invisible chain would keep her from being thrown out of the vehicle. Her hip struck something, and she suppressed a moan of pain, that was going to be a nasty bruise later.

She saw headlights just in time to brace herself for impact as another vehicle ran into theirs. Everything went to hell in the next instant. Holding on for dear life she saw Loki raise his scepter and the orb started to glow with a new intensity. He took aim, and the tunnel echoed as if a gun had just been fired.

Sofiya fought the instinct to cover her ears as she didn't want to risk being thrown out of the truck.

Helplessly watching as some sort of energy blast soared from Loki's scepter and hit another car, causing it to flip and then skid through the tunnel knocking out several other cars as it went. She hoped everyone would survive, but the odds were grim. Her ears rung as she sucked in a breath of charred tasting air.

Sofiya whipped her head around to see a car swerve around and face the truck. The sounds of wheels trying to get a grip on the asphalt was soon overshadowed by the roar of the truck's engine. As the car ran over something she was jostled and now in the line of sight with the agent driving the vehicle in front of the truck.

Loki was distracted as he dealt with those pursuing from the rear of the truck. Sofiya watched as the agent's eyes were glued to what would have been Erik's lap. The briefcase, she thought, something dangerous must be in it if that is what the agent was after. That must have been what Loki was after as well.

Before she could change her mind, Sofiya lept into action.

If he had come all this way just to get what was in that briefcase, her best chance was to use the contents as leverage to manipulate Loki into cutting the chain so she could jump. She hoped he would not harm her out of fear of damaging the item he had traveled the universe for when she made her bargain.

Maneuvering her way through the open window in the back of the truck she prayed Loki didn't notice her. The car suddenly jerked to the side, and she was thrust the rest of the way through the window. Her fall broken by the backseat, she worked at rightening herself into a sitting position.

Taking a moment to compose herself before she stuck her head between the front seats and tried to neutralize her expression as she looked at Erik.

"He wants the briefcase," she said, trying not to sound like she was at risk of freaking out. He nodded and handed it to her. That had been a lot easier than she had anticipated. For a moment she wondered what exactly Loki had done to them. An explosion reminded her she did not have time to ponder those possibilities at the present time.

Looking out the window she noticed they were almost clear of the tunnel. The truck swerved, and she fell against the door, her head hitting the bulletproof glass hard. Closing her eyes as she waited for the dizziness to subside while at the same time, her fingers inspected the latches on the briefcase and managed to get it open.

She looked down to see a cube that was much like the orb in Loki's scepter. Hesitantly grabbing it, Sofiya paused for a moment once. At least it had not blown up or vaporized her hands she thought as she closed the now empty briefcase. Holding onto the cube as securely as she could she turned around in her seat coming face to face with Loki.

Sofiya gulped as Loki glanced from her eyes to the object she was holding and back again. Only then did it occur to her how stupid of an idea it had been to think she could manipulate the god of mischief. But she had to have tried something, she was not just going to sit back and let this Asgardian do to her as he liked.

Something about his gaze threatened to shake Sofiya to her core. Those green eyes sent a message that she had never seen in another's gaze before. His gaze upon her was like that of a predator, and she was between him and his prey. She had never felt so small in her entire life.

Caught in Loki's eyes, she neglected to notice he was raising his scepter at her.

All plans of bargaining for her escape were lost in the wind as she watched the clouds in the orb flurry with activity. All she could do was hold her hands up in front of her before a stream of energy was shot her way.

The next thing she knew the blue cube intercepted the strike aimed at her. Sofiya was thrown back into the passenger seat just as the air around her singed. Every muscle in her body tensed as pain like no other spread through her veins before it vanished a split second later. She was left exhausted and out of breath, had she just died?

It felt like a bucket of ice had been dropped over her brain, and then her vision was blinded by a dark void.

"No," Loki's voice echoed, but there was something off about it. It was … it was in her mind or his mind, but that was … "Impossible," he finished for her.

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 _I can not make any promises about when I will update. One of the reasons I started to write again is because I am in one of the worst depressive spells I have faced in the last 15 years and writing helps me in so many ways. So you may get 2 updates in a week and then no updates for the next two weeks. Just thought I would be honest with you guys._


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter re-edited as of 8/19_

 _So this chapter before I broke it up was around 6-7k now its 4k, but that means it's turned into a kind of a filler chapter because it's missing the main event. The next chapter will be very_ action packed _though!_

 _This chapter is dedicated to FanGirlForever19_

 _(An_ of course _mental communication is in italics) ENJOYYYY_

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The truck jerked as it drove over the rough terrain. Loki glanced at the human who sat next to him in the backseat of the truck, making sure the bouncing around was not doing any permanent damage to her. The stupid human was passed out and unable to brace herself as the car jerked. It perturbed him that his plan had been inconvenienced by this being.

His initial scan of her mind after the incident had given him her name as well as several other things he needed to know for his plan, but in her unconscious state, there was only so much he could find in her disorganized mind. Loki needed her to be awake so he could more easily manipulate her thoughts to line up so he could gather more information.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to adapt his plan to contain Sofiya as well as the knowledge he had stolen from her mind while also trying to figure out what had happened. It disgusted him to be sitting this close to her, but there was no other choice.

He would have strapped her to the bed of the truck, but the possibility of damage to her head and mind from smashing around would be a further inconvenience to him. Loki had tried to wake her up, but her state of unconsciousness was not from natural causes. Thus the best place for her limp body was inside the truck in the only open seat available, to the right of Loki.

Throwing a dark gaze her way it crossed his mind to just open the door using a little of his kinetic energy so he did not have to lean over her and just letting her fall out of the vehicle. The little human wench had managed to get into his mind where only a handful of people had been.

Taking a moment to assess her, he observed she looked younger than he had initially thought. No matter how inferior humans were, it had always fascinated him their scale of growth. He knew they had no choice with their lifespan being so short, but still, having kings not even fifty years old was absurd.

Chuckling, he thought back to how the young human had stood up alone to him with a gun. The weapon was no threat to him, though the incident had shown her fiery spirit. He could almost admire that about her, but it would be sure to get her killed by those around her in the coming days. That was if he could find a way to kill her. Loki had no idea what the lasting effects of their little incident would be.

Which lead him to think about what had happened when his scepter blast was intercepted by the tesseract. Loki had an idea about what had happened, but it was improbable. Yet it was the only thing that made sense.

For the most part, the rest of the universe was clueless about infinity stones. Years ago he had heard whispers, and after much search, he found one vague reference in the Asgardian library. He knew he contained one in his scepter, he had risked much to bargain for it. The memory threatened to pull him in but he fought it off.

He had an inkling that the tesseract was an infinity stone, but that had not been confirmed until tonight. The blast he shot her way should have killed her, but he had been as careless as to let his temper get the better of him. She had the tesseract in her hand, it must have intercepted his blast and since she had her hands directly on it, conducted the blast through the tesseract to her.

In a way he was almost fortunate for the event, but if he believed this then he would have to believe he was fortunate to come across the human and he would never admit that. The information he had gained from the incident brought about more questions than it answers, but those questions would lead him to discover something of important use to him later on.

Loki believed that the stones had the ability to emit suggestive magic in their presence. Though he had never considered how two stones might act if brought against each other. The tesseract seemed to absorb the primary impact and then deflected the rest of the energy to the girl, otherwise, she would have fried.

He glanced at Sofiya again. Loki had hoped their mind link had been temporary. No matter, he had immediately slammed more shields into place and knocked out the weak human as he did so.

It appeared to not be temporary though. Once she was knocked out, he had cautiously opened several of his shields, just enough to where he could feel the weak presence of hers. Agitated to see the link was still up, he took the opportunity to lightly inspect her mind. Loki was unsure of how strong she was, if he were too intrusive she would have more than just a headache later and possibly permanent damage.

The permanent damage only concerned him because if he needed to access memories later, it could make things more difficult.

His search found nothing that was too concerning. He did see several things of interest though. It appeared several hours ago the girl had gone to some type of meeting to protest the environmentally damaging construction methods for some type of transportation tunneling in New York.

He looked further and saw that the tunnel system was abandoned due to money issues. Sofiya had tried to gain access to the tunnels for some type of inspection and he found entrance access was denied to everyone. It appeared to be the perfect spot to set up. After exiting her mind he conveyed directions to the archery favoring man in the driver's seat.

She mumbled something unintelligible and he was not surprised she woke soon after his probing. She moaned, and eyes still closed, clutched her head and then rubbed at her hip, hissing when she pressed too hard. He had no idea how easily humans were damaged, but she had taken multiple hits.

"The human lives?" he feigned interest. Her immediate response was to cock her head at him and then take in her surroundings. She was watching him now. The human had the audacity to look him in the eyes instead of averting her gaze. He could feel whispers against his mental shields.

"What happened?" she asked cautiously.

"You, messing with things you do not understand," his response was sharp.

"Don't give me an attitude, I'm not the one that attacked and killed people." The girl looked at him making sure she held his attention before making a display of rolling her eyes.

"Be quite human. I am here to conquer your planet and do not have time for you," he refused to let a human get on his nerves to the point that he reacted out of impulse.

"So, Loki is even more the jackass than he is made out to be," she mumbled to herself as she and turned around to watch out the window.

He had to actively prevent himself from scoffing. After all the opinion of a lowly human should not be of his concern.

"Human, you need to learn your place," his voice carried through the car. She was treading rough waters with him. He had already tried to kill her once. Things were foggy but she was slowly remembering.

"You come to my planet, and you tell me to learn my place. Damn, you Asgardians must have balls the size of watermelons." She had never been the type to shy from danger, why should she start now?

"I may not be aware of what a watermelon is, but I can assure you my balls are perfectly proportional," he quipped and Sofiya licked her lips trying to cover up her smile.

She knew his view on her inferior that much was clear, but he had still decided to defend himself. That showed he was just as prideful as he was egoistic.

"I'll take your word for it," she tipped her head at him and resumed looking out the window.

Loki's intense gaze did not intimidate her, but it did make her slightly uncomfortable considering she was in a confined space with him. Sofiya sighed to herself shaking her head. She needed to come to her senses, but the pain in her head was clouding her judgment. Threatening her abductor was not her smartest move.

"What happened back in the tunnel?" she asked and looked back at him. He simply lifted an eyebrow and looked away. They were both testing each other's patience.

"Ah, I see. All the Earth stories put you as some genius calculator, able to deduce any situation from a simple glance. I should've known they were exaggerations." She tested him a little bit hoping by his earlier defensive behavior he would give her more information if she attacked his reputation.

She thought his brain insubordinate to hers? She would need to be taught a lesson. He stilled as he turned to look at her again. Sofiya seemed too assured that she would get an answer, her eyebrow lifted under his scrutinous star. Loki narrowed his eyes at her and took in her body language. The corners of his mouth lifted, he would have to watch this one closely.

"Do not play the game unless you know the rules," he warned and she feigned innocence. He had seen through her act though. Something in her gaze changed and she relaxed against her seat.

"You're no fun," Sofiya whined. In their short time together he could already tell that she was very stubborn. He decided it was best to give her some of the answers before she further annoyed him.

"The sphere in my scepter and the cube, the tesseract, you were holding are of immense power. They are called infinity stones. It seems in that moment one could not overpower the other. Since the main blast had come from my stone, your stone acted as a conductor and passed the blast to you." Sofiya observed him for a moment as if considering his answer. After a long moment, she finally seemed to accept his words as truth.

"That doesn't explain why I could," she paused, and her eyebrows lifted as she looked away from him for a moment before continuing, "This sounds so weird to say. That does not explain why I was in your head."

He watched her as she was lost in her own thoughts and thankfully distracted from trying to pursue an answer to her questions. All the sudden she grabbed her head and groaned, leaning her forehead up against the back of the passenger seat.

"I think I have a concussion," she moaned. The girl must have been pushing through the pain while she interrogated him. She mumbled something unintelligible as she felt around under her seat.

"Excuse me?" Loki inquired.

"Medical kit, they are standard in all SHIELD vehicles," Sofiya answered louder. He figured that was harmless enough and let her continue her search. A moment later he heard a contentful sigh and thought she had found the kit.

Loki himself got lost in thought as he further schemed how to take over the planet. Suddenly something was thrust in front of his face. Instantly his hand went around Sofiya's wrist. The girl let out a curse under her breath and he relaxed his grip some, his strength too much for her brittle human body. Upon further assessment of the white cloth she held he determined it was harmless and he shoved the offending hand away.

"Fine, die for all I care." Loki watched her and waited for elaboration, "You have a cut below your eye." Strange, she was concerned for the man that had kidnapped her. Sentiment made humans weak, very weak.

"It will be healed by now, that is just left over blood."

"Okay, Mr. High and Mighty," her sarcastic answer causing him to raise an eyebrow. Did she not care how much power he held over her, her life?

He spied on her as she picked up bottles and read them till she found the one she was looking for.

"Where are we going?" Soon the human would learn to respect him, he would make sure of that.

Loki felt no need to answer.

-XXX-

Could she still think if she was in shock Sofiya wondered? She felt her body and her adrenaline had stopped pumping, she was more tired than anything right now. This was denial, not shock.

Due to the bag over the head, she was unable to identify where they were. This left her time to take in her situation though. She realized how much depended on technology during this time while wishing she could google more about Loki. After a search of her person, she came to the conclusion that her cell phone had either been confiscated or lost during the abduction.

A firm hand on her wrist made her stop walking, and she felt the bag being taken off her head. Barton's face was the first thing she saw. The next thing she saw was white stained tile and a lot of. Taking in her surroundings furthur she saw she was in a vast, spacious room like some type of . . . wait. These were the tunnels she had petitioned to inspect for eco-safe construction methods. Her jaw dropped. Out of all the places in the world Loki could have taken her, he chose here? There was no possibility that this was a coincidence, had he gone into her head and found this piece of information?

Even at the prospect of someone possibly violating her thoughts Sofiya still found herself intrigued by her surroundings. She had been trying for months to get in here, but now was probably not the best time to go exploring she thought chuckling to herself.

"Do not leave this room, I will know if you do," Loki said omnisciently as he walked out one of the tunnels that connected to the main room. Turning to watch him leave she saw that there were around fifteen people in the room that she had never seen before, all carrying various equipment or weapons.

How . . . she didn't want to know. Loki had probably contacted some type of underground criminal or anti SHIELD network. These guys were bad news that much was apparent just from the weapons they were carrying. While watching them she had caught the attention of one man who looked particularly threatening. After smiling viciously at her, he winked, and Sofiya turned around to move closer to Barton.

At this point she was certain Barton and Erik were under some type of brainwashing. There was no way they would consent to being in this situation willingly and yet here they were helping to set up some type of generator for Loki's minions.

Looking around Sofiya tried her best to suppress some of her fear. She went through her options - she could run or she could stay. Loki was gone so her chances of running were better but probably would still not be successful, especially if she took into account him potentially knowing the second she made a run for it. Everyone in the room had heard Loki's directions for her and she doubted they would let her go peacefully.

Taking in her situation she knew it could be worse. No one had laid a harmful hand on her so far and she was able to walk around freely. She looked down at her ankle and kicked forward, not feeling a chain she breathed in relief.

Sofiya's head started to spin again and she knew it would be best to sit down before she ended up falling. She decided, for now, it was best to just sit in the corner until she was no longer dizzy before moving forward with escape plans.

How was someone even supposed to process all this? Sofiya felt almost as if she was in culture shock of some sort. Murder. Aliens. World domination . . . by aliens. These things were the farthest things from normal.

She sighed and put her head in her hands. Right now her goal was to survive, but the longer she sat doing nothing, the more the events of the last couple hours moved to the forefront of her mind.

The last image she had of Jason - poor Jason. Sofiya choked and then realized she had started to cry. Her hands fisted and then she brought them down on the ground hard. She could cry later once she got out of this situation. This was ridiculous, this situation was bonkers and she would be damned if she sat on the floor crying her eyes out while she was literally in the vicinity of a man . . . thing . . . alien that could actually go through with whatever crazy plans he was scheming.

She would do all she could to learn as much information as possible and then when she got a chance to escape she would go to SHIELD telling them everything she knew. Earth was at stake, she had to keep herself together. In this situation, she was useless if she could not keep her head on her shoulders.

Shaking her head she got up off the ground being mindful of the bruise on her hip. Where was she to start? She scanned the room suspiciously. As she looked around she was amazed by the fact that just during her mini almost meltdown the room had filled up with at least one hundred people. People were not just the new edition but also equipment.

There was what appeared to be the main station in the center of the room where Loki was conversing with several people over a table. Apparently she had missed him coming back into the room as well. Other tables with computers and security equipment were set up in one corner. Doing a double take she saw a fridge and a grill in another corner.

Her eyes were drawn back to the golden horns. She stood back and watched how he interacted with people.

Most of the time he didn't even look at the people that were talking to him. His minions were placing what looked like maps in front of him on the table. He did some pointing and the people nodded, took up the maps, and left. Someone showed him a tablet and Loki nodded then turned around and walked to an area that was closed off with some type of tarp. She would have to get closer if she wanted to see what was in the closed-off area.

As she watched Loki, it occurred to her that something about him looked different. It took her a moment to figure it out. He looked further from death than when she had first seen him. He no longer carried a sickly complexion, especially around the eyes. At first meeting with him she had missed this, not knowing if that was his usual complexion or not. Hmmm, there could be many reasons for this and at the present time she could not come to any conclusions without more information.

Stepping forward Sofiya noticed someone watching her from the corner. It was the same man that had given her a creepy smile earlier. Looking away from him she had almost made it to Loki when the sketchy man stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Please move," she asked nicely enough looking directly at him.

"Now why would I do that pretty thing?" His voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Sofiya, come here," Barton asked, who was standing beside Loki. Sofiya walked around Mr. Creep without giving him a second look.

"Yeah?" she asked crossing her arms and looking into the closed-off area. It appeared to be Erik's lab. It contained a table with the tesseract on it and Erik was piecing together different parts of metal to make some type of machine.

All the sudden Sofiya got the strangest feeling that she wasn't alone. It was not a physical feeling but more of a mental feeling, like someone was peering into her thoughts. She froze trying to make sense of this new feeling and realizing only one person could be responsible for it. That mother fucker was in her head uninvited.

" _This can be painless, it is your choice_ ," Loki's voice purred in her head. Panic threatened to overtake her. She had never felt this vulnerable before, it was as if her soul was naked to him.

" _It is also my choice to have someone in my head. Get out,_ " Sofiya responded as she tried to push him away but her efforts were useless.

" _You assaulted my thoughts first darling_ ," he said suggestively. Sofiya choose to ignore his implications.

" _That's different, I had no idea what I was doing._ " It suddenly hit her that she was having a conversation with someone in her head. Had she gone insane? How is one supposed to know they are not just coming up with these thoughts themselves?

Something struck her mind and she made sure to not actively think about it. "So whatcha looking for?" Sofiya asked out loud. It was disorienting at first to talk out loud while she was still pushing forward with Loki on the mental plane. A wall suddenly slammed in her way. Loki's laugh echoed through her mind before he completely disappeared.

"Codes, Passwords, and locations of information," he answered out loud not even looking at her, his attention on whatever papers were scattered about the table.

"Did you find them?"

"Yes." His one-word arrogant answer irked her and she narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. Before she could respond Loki was giving orders to someone else. She used the moment to take another look at Erik's machine.

"You are just a load of trouble, aren't you?" Loki purred and she found herself being turned away from Erik's workstation.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sofiya said rolling her tongue across her teeth in an effort to gain her composure.

"Can I expect other humans to be as vexing as you?" He looked at her for a moment before looking away to deal with something else.

"I like to think that I am one of a kind," Loki shook his head at her antics and pointed to a chair in the corner of the room. Sofiya sighed and headed that way.

As she made her way to the chair she noticed several men looking at her. Sitting down she placed her chin in her hands, at least the chair was soft. A couple moments later someone approached her with five books in their hands.

"Boss said this should keep you busy so you don't try anything stupid." She rolled her eyes, she would never earn his trust at this rate that much was clear.

Looking through the books she saw that one was Harry Potter and smiled. Someone else must have given the book suggestions to him, thank goodness they had said at least one decent book.

Alternating between people watching and reading Sofiya managed to pass a couple hours. Eventually, Barton came up to her with a cup of water and a sandwich. He also brought her a pillow and sleeping bag as well as some wipes, gum, and a pair of socks. Even though he was being brainwashed his was still being his thoughtful kind self . . . well the best he could in this situation. What if shit hit the fan, would it be too much to ask whatever god watched over her for Barton to be on her side if she tried to escape?

Trying to make small talk with him was pointless,apparently, Loki had told Barton he was not allowed to talk to her. Suddenly she felt something change in the air around her.

" _Will you stop shouting your thoughts against my shields, it is giving me a headache._ " Sofiya was so surprised to hear Loki's voice in her head that she dropped her book.

" _Sorry, I had no idea I was doing that._ " She would never get over how weird it was to have a conversation with someone else in her own head. Wait, why was she apologizing to him, he was the one that had kidnapped her! By this point, Barton had walked away so Sofiya decided to walk over to Loki and see if she could determine what exactly it was he was scheming.

Approaching cautiously she noticed it was Mr. Creep he was talking as she got close enough to just catch the tail end of the conversation.

"The rest of the troops will be arriving by midnight tonight, Sir." To which Loki nodded and turned away excusing the man.

Even though Loki had not looked her way she knew he knew she was there. Her suspicions were confirmed when he spoke to her.

"Tell me about your father."

His question triggered a memory of some movie she had watched about a kidnapping ransom gone wrong. The kidnapper had asked the victim that same question and the victim had been crying her eyes out. She knew that her abduction case was not by any means normal, but she felt like she should be contained or something at least. Not to say that she was complaining though.

"He is Councilman Marshal," she said shrugging as she leaned against a table, "He doesn't tell me a lot about his work." Loki turned to look at her, her heart skipped a beat at the intensity of his gaze. There was something ominous about his green eyes, like he knew more about her than she knew about herself. Maybe it was an Asgardian thing?

"Hmm and what do you think he is doing since you showed up missing?" Sofiya was now paranoid that he was reading her thoughts at that moment so she pushed away her initial thoughts on his questions and tried to lie as naturally as she could.

"Most likely scrambling a team together to kick your ass." She picked up a walkie-talkie that sat on the table she was leaning against and casually checked it out. Sofiya had not been lying, but she had not been telling the full truth either. Her father would be putting together a team, but not because of her. She was almost positive her father would negate her life if it meant capturing Loki.

She looked back up at him and almost looked away at the impossibly increased intensity of his eyes.

"You are hiding something," Loki stated.

"Aren't we all?" Sofiya tried to return the intensity he was giving her. He chuckled as he looked away. She knew she was a pawn and the only reason she was alive was because of the information she might have that Loki needed.

Clearing a spot of the table Sofiya hopped up on it and started swinging her legs as she casually started to read whatever paperwork was in her line of sight. Being in his presence was unnerving but she would be damned if he bullied her into a corner all day. She needed to keep him talking so she could stay here longer and get as much information as possible.

"If you are so bent about getting truthful information from me why don't you just mind control me?" She realized she was looking at a map of New York City. The map was snatched out from under her eyes not a second later

"Because you are too weak for it," Loki paused as he turned around to face her from putting the map up out of her sight, "You are a scared little girl and you keep pushing to see how much you can get away with but all it takes is one push too far," He brought his scepter between them and the glowy orb thing started to glow brighter. What had he called it, an infinity stone? She stood up straighter. "And I might just have to kill you."

"You already tried. I might be weak but so are you right now." She was playing with fire and she knew it, but honestly, her chances of making it out of this situation alive were slim enough. And if Sofiya died, she did not want her last couple hours to be filled with her being a coward.

"And why do you say that?" She did not answer him immediately trying to choose her words carefully, "Go on," he encouraged.

"I don't think you're the one calling the shots. I think the people you were with before you came here are the one calling the shots." Before she could blink his scepter was pointed at her throat.

"Continue," the order came out crisp.

"You didn't come with backup. Yes, it appears you can technically make your own backup but still, you're alone. Also, I know you can heal fast and it takes a hell of a lot to hurt you," Sofiya said in reference to the car attack earlier, "The first time I saw you-you looked very sickly and your skin was discolored. Every hour that goes by you look healthier. Thus it's a guess, but I think you were being held by people that were trying to make you weak so they could control you or else hurting you. I think you made some type of deal to take Earth for them and you would get your freedom." There was no use holding anything back, he would find out somehow. She could hear her own heart beating as she waited for his reaction.

"Not completely wrong but most of it is. Still, I am impressed, if only this idiot human militia was as smart as you." Sofiya's spine was still tense as she waited for some type of punishment for speaking so truthfully and bluntly.

'In for a penny, in for a pound', she thought to herself.

Putting her finger on the point of the scepter she pushed it to the side away from her face, "You need me for information, you won't kill me." Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it might burst from her chest.

"I could take all the information I need right now and then kill you." Fear coursed through her and she was about to take her finger off the scepter when all the sudden there was a bright green light and she was thrown back from her seated position on the table to about ten feet behind it.

"Aw fuck," she moaned as she clutched her head which had hit the ground hard. She had double vision that went away after a moment but she still couldn't see totally clearly. Though she could tell that Loki had been thrown back as well and the main post station seemed to be in a state of disarray. Sighing she leaned her head back down on the ground before she vomited. Definitely a concussion now.

She stared at the ceiling for a moment watching drips collect enough water to fall. Once she could clearly make out the drip she propped herself up, it felt like she had been hit by a train. She was rubbing her chest when Loki walked up.

"What did you do?" he asked, his voice demanding. Sofiya could tell he was surprised enough that he had let his guard down for a moment.

* * *

What do you guys think? I would love a review! Also if you guys want a specific one-liner or have a scene between them you would like to see just tell me. It might be awhile before I can fit it into the story but I am willing to as long as it fits in with what I am writing.


	3. Chapter 3

__Chapter re-edited as of 7/30/19__

 _I have now rubbed off the r, e, n, a, d on my keyboard and ever since I started writing this fic the L has been looking a little shabby, I blame Loki for that :P_

 _Also I gave up on trying to keep the chapters a consistent length, they will always be over 2k but no upper limits any more._

 _Playlist_

 _Dark Star - Jaymes Young_

 _Not Afraid Anymore - Halsey_

 _Do I make you wanna - Billy Currington_

 _Chapter Warnings - brief potential rape encounter but nothing happens - no clothes are torn, no molestation, etc. Tried to make it as safe as possible for anyone triggered, of course you still don't have to read it! Just wanted to make it safer._

 _Would have had this chapter out yesterday but I went to see Dan and Phil on tour. I was one of the oldest fangirls there to see them but it was still really fun!_

* * *

"Go away," Sofiya closed her eyes in an effort to envision herself anywhere but in her current predicament. The first scene that came to mind was of herself lying in bed at home. The windows open on a warm spring day, the air conditioning flowing out the window just to spite her parents. Her limbs sinking into the softness of her mattress instead of the hard concert floor that was her reality. The gentle breeze swimming across her face smelling of her favorite flower.

"Answer me," Loki angrily demanded bringing her back to reality, the smell of flowers replaced with peppermint. Opening her eyes, she saw the wet tile above illuminated by the lights down on the ground. She could just make out the shadows of people moving against the ceiling.

"Has anyone ever told you if you ask nicely you're more likely to get your way," lungs hurting with every word that passed her lips, she wondered just how hard she had hit the ground.

"Human I am serious. This is not the time for games." She could tell by Loki's tone he was ever the more agitated as each second ticked by.. Working to suppress a laugh that threatened to bubble up at the image of him having a temper tantrum she sealed her lips till the urge left her. Why could he not just give her some time to recover?

"Not everyone has the same degree of indestructibility as you." It hurt less to get the words out this time, that had to be a good sign.

"Okay, I'll comprise with you. Call me by my name and not 'human'. I'll answer you then." She couldn't help it, it was so easy for her to press his buttons and she had never seen him angry before. Something dark in her wanted to see how far she could push him.

"Sofiya," Loki pushed her name through gritted teeth as he stepped into her line of sight. As his shadow fell over her she sighed in relief, the lights had been agitating the pounding in her head.

"I have no idea." Sofiya finally gave him the answer to his question. His green eyes narrowed down at her and he set his jaw causing a muscle to twitch in his neck. Opening his mouth, he paused as if thinking better of what he was about to do. Turning, he took his frustration out on everyone else in the room, telling them to leave angrily.

"Don't be mean to them!" Suddenly the weight of the situation hit her. The last thing this world needed right now was an angry wizard Asgardian capable of who knows what.

"Mere human, I am only trying to follow your advice. Would you rather me take my anger out on you?" Loki jerked his eyes back to hers, the venom clear in his voice.

"That is not what I meant and you know it," snapping at him as she gave him a once over. Following the leather all the way down to his feet and back again to the tops of his obnoxious golden horns. Only then did she notice that it was not all green, his chest piece could be considered dark blue. Eyeing his horns again, the most significant piece of his wardrobe that signaled he was not from Earth she continued, "Honestly, I would rather you just leave this world."

Loki choice to ignore the human's words and pushed forward with his own agenda. Even though he had never been king he was of royalty and during his time in Asgard had been used to getting what he wanted. His expectations of Earth had been no lower, expecting humans to bend to his will easily, regardless of weather he was controlling their minds or not.

"I am only going to ask you one more time before I go in and get the information I need myself. Tell me what you did, what you thought in that moment?" Loki looked down at the small human. She was like a child always getting into trouble and rebelling. His anger went down a notch as he realized she was acting like he did most of the time.

"We were there," the girl raised her hand and pointed, "I touched the scepter and moved it," she paused and bit her lip considering her next words.

"Sofiya," he warned her. He did not want to dive into her head with her in this state. It was clear to him that she had suffered another head injury.

He assessed the human that was flat on her back under him. Sofiya's eyes were glazed over and the expression on her face was apprehensive. Perhaps the human was intimidated by him towering above her, this thought further kicked back his anger as it was replaced with amusement.

Loki watched the human suddenly roll on to her stomach and try to use her hands and knees to brace herself in order to stand. He saw her head loll to the side a moment before she collapsed. He was surprised to hear her primal growl in frustration before she tried to pick herself up again.

"If you tell me the rest I will help you stand." If she wanted to get up so badly perhaps he could use it against her. She stilled for a moment on her hands and knees and dropped her head in defeat.

"Fine," Sofiya mumbled. He took in the moment of brief satisfaction as she played into his wants. "I was scared okay. I say a lot of stupid stuff and five seconds later I realize I might have said the wrong thing. That is what happened, I got scared."

"Fear." The word left a bad taste in his mouth. He watched her carefully for signs of magic. There had been more times than he would like to admit in his youth where an intense emotion had triggered a sudden, unintentional outburst of magic. Now that he was looking for it he saw the tell-tale sign, her skin had a soft glow to it.

What concerned him was the color of the glow. It appeared to be a golden green. He knew his own magic was green, matching his eyes, the human had brown eyes which was consistent with golden magic. But Loki had never seen someone with magic from two colors.

"Well, are you going to help me up or not." In response, he waved his hand and gave her a magical push to her feet. She immediately leaned on the closest thing which happened to be the refrigerator.

At the touch of his magic something changed with the tint of her skin, it grew an even more vivid gold, green taking the background role. Sofiya seemed to finally be aware of what was going on in that instant. As the color enhanced he could see each distinct vein through her ivory skin. The gold glowed from under her skin but at her veins the color was more intense, more saturated.

"Loki?" She asked aloud and then broke into mental communication. He felt a whisper tickle his shields and opened the way for her.

Loki had tried many different means to destroy the link forged between them, none had been successful. Though it was uncomfortable for him to invite her into his mind, it was not as unpleasant as being in her chaotic mind.

The link between them ensured that she was always within his inner shields, he was always aware of her on some level if he just stopped and reached out. It was against his nature to have someone that close to him twenty-four seven, putting him on edge constantly. This was made worse by her untrained mind, the majority of the time her thoughts were shouts hammering against his closest shields. Of the few times he had ventured into her mind, he had returned to his frazzled. In his mind at least he could contain her presence, thus it was safer for him to do this in his mind.

Even though she was untrained he was able to tell that her capacity of abilities was like his, she could very well rival his telepathic abilities if she were trained. He would never tell her that though, no that would be dangerous.

" _Loki, what's going on, is this . . ._ " her thoughts trailed off in a chaotic spiral that he was unable to follow until they organized. He saw memories of the incident with the infinity stones, her first views into his mind, her reflection in his own eyes right before she was blasted back, " _am I . . . did this, am I making magic?_ "

Sofiya was not even sure of how to label what was going on, she was so naive. Magic in her world was something of fantasy, but in his world, it was one with science. He took care with how he told her. Judging from her mind she was already wound up and he did not want to deal with a panicking woman that could very well take down this tunnel system.

" _It seems you have some residing symptoms._ " Deciding it was best to leave the answer open-ended, he hoped she would not become hysterical.

" _How long is this going to last?_ " She was suppressing the panic best she could, but it was still leaking into his mind.

" _There is no way of knowing._ " He left of that from what he had observed the symptoms seemed to be getting stronger and would likely let themselves be more known over the next few days.

This could be a problem, if the full or even half the strength of his abilities had been transferred to her, she would not be able to harness that much magic. He was the strongest sorcerer on Asgard and that type of power in a human vessel could prove to be disastrous. For the first time Loki truly felt out of his league in a situation. He had to be delicate with her, but it was not in his nature to treat those inferior to him with respect or decency.

He had to find a way to kill her, it was the only option. If she did gain the ability to control the magic she could prove to be an adequate rival. An idea spawned itself and Loki decided it would be easier to use her, bend her to his will.

Seducing her was out of the question, he knew that endeavor would never work. Loki thought about what he had observed in her behavior thus far. She had strong sentiment for humans. He knew not how far this sentiment would allow him to manipulate her, but it was a start until he learned more.

Yes, he would use the threat to other humans lives to control her. Though he had to be careful because she was already emotionally invested in people's lives and if he pushed too hard she could just explode - literally. Loki knew he needed to gain a little of her trust for his plan to work.

" _But,_ " he brought her out of her hectic thoughts, " _You may have contracted some of my abilities,_ " he was almost physically pushed back by her tangible explosion of panic.

He had to calm her but he had no idea how to alive the troubles of human minds. It could not be that much more complicated than manipulating them though. He watched as the colors intensified before his very eyes. It really was a spectacle, the green and gold maintained their individuality even as they swirled together.

Perhaps he could do as his mother figure had done to him on occasion during his training. Yes, Loki would try to harvest her own magical energy for himself. Draining her would be a quick fix but it would work for now. However, he had no idea how fast it would accumulate again.

Tentatively he pushed out on his own magic, his mastery level demonstrated by his ability to conceal the color of his own magic. Reaching forward he sucked in a breath as it made contact with her magic. It was as if he had been dunked in an electric ice bath.

Either the wielder harnessed the magic or the magic manipulated the wielder. Sofiya's had a mind of its own as it pushed back strongly. Oddly enough it was as if the magic was at a war against itself. He closed his eyes and focused.

The magic plane was different than that of the physical or even mental plane. The magic plane was less like stars in space and more like colored whisp in the wind. Each person's magic left traces each time they used it, always leading back to their core. The length at which these trails lasted was determined by the strength of the magician. Her magic was bright and concentrated, a fog that he could not see through.

Something was off though, the green and gold appeared to be fighting against each other, each one wanting dominance. He was aware the moment her magic spotted his because the green reached forward as if to escape. Interestingly enough the gold pulled it back in.

As he got closer and encased the orb it started to pulse against his outreached field. Some of the green magic wanted to return back to him, but the gold part that was hers kept it from doing so. Fascinating, that explained the two colored aurorae. It seemed that somehow his own magic had manifested itself in her and awakened her own magic that was now transitioning his magic to her own. It was fitting, not only was she rebellious and fiery but so was her magic. Never in his existence had he come across a case like this.

Her skin felt like it was on fire and her mind was in chaos. This news was too much, so far she had handled everything that had happened incredibly well if she said so herself. But this, this was too much, there was no way she would be able to . . . do anything. Her thoughts started to race. It felt like she couldn't get enough air in her lungs, drowning on land - how ironic she scoffed to herself. She felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

" _Loki?_ " This time she called his name softer and in desperation. Her eyes large as she looked down at her own skin. She had become a human flashlight at this point. The gold and green colors taking on a life of their own as they swirled together under her skin but did not merge.

" _You must stop,_ " his voice echoed through her head and made her headache worse.

" _Don't tell me what to do,_ " Sofiya was in pain and a state of panic, she knew very well she was on the way to shock.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus, it wasn't working. Memories and scenes whipped through her mind, some making sense and others not. She saw people die at her glowing hands. She saw the lifeless bodies of her bodyguards, she saw the faces of those that had died in the car chase. When she opened her eyes, the images stayed.

" _This is all your fault,_ " she said and the glow lept a foot from her hand towards Loki before settling back into the thin coat that was her skin.

" _Calm down, you could take this place down and kill everyone here,_ " she knew Loki was trying to reason with her but her blood burned, confliction filled her. That was the worst thing he could say, it just put more stress on her. The taste of bile rose in her throat and she bent over gasping.

" _Sofiya._ " The note of arrogance that his voice usually carried was missing. She knew it was a warning for her to do something to calm down or he would take measures into his own hands.

"I don't know how," she half cried out, her voice shrill with panic.

" _I am going to try something, don't fight it._ "

"Easier said than done," she laughed, Sofiya was officially in a state of hysteria. She sucked in a deep breath as she felt her body encased in something. She looked down at her hands flipping them over but saw nothing. It felt like she had been dunked in water, the pressure pushing in on her skin climbing as each second passed.

She wanted to fight it, she was ready for a fight, needed a fight. Her attention was brought back to the burning feeling under her skin. It started to lessen as the pressure around her grew.

Sofiya sucked in another gulp of air as she looked up at Loki who was looking at her with the most intense gaze, no human could hold the same intensity that he radiated. She wanted to break their locked eyes but she was a deer caught in the headlights. Her breath caught on its way out.

" _Breath,_ " he reminded her softly. Her chest compressed on his orders. The green in his eyes grew brighter as the pressure reached its peak and she could have sworn she saw his iris's moving like clouds on a super windy day.

Once the pressure started to ease it was like the glue that had kept their gazes locked melted and she finally took in his face. Before her eyes the dark circles under his eyes filled with color, the hollows of his checks filling in.

"You assling!" she shouted and he flinched just as the pressure around her completely disappeared. Loki dropped his gaze to her skin and her gaze dropped as well. Holding up her hands she saw that they were back to their normal color, no tones of green or gold trying to crawl their way out.

" _I was not sure that was going to work without killing you in the process,_ " Loki stated now satisfied with himself.

" _You took my magic in order to heal yourself, that was not what we had agreed on._ " The anger still resided in her and she knew it was not really her. The magic had festered and wanted to act, to expand.

" _We did not really agree on anything,"_ he shrugged and looked at his nails inspecting them, " _And your magic is drained, not taken._ " he corrected her.

" _Same thing._ "

" _No._ "

" _Trying to get any information out of you is like trying to find a needle in a haystack,_ " she sighed and rubbed her temples for a moment as her mood leveled out.

" _Why would you ever need to search for a needle in a haystack, just get a new needle._ " His response only further frustrated her. When she got the chance she was gonna mess up his pretty little face with her fist.

" _May I remind you that while we are communicating telepathically I am privy to any thoughts you send my way,_ " her response was to send even more graphic thoughts his way.

" _And here I thought you were an innocent little princess._ " His response triggered something in her memory.

" _Wait aren't you a prince?_ " She felt a wave of emotion come from him for the first time. It hit her so fast and was gone before she could process it. If he was sending emotions . . . did that mean that she was sending her emotions his way? Sofiya glanced at him as she tensed.

" _That is not up for discussion._ " Normally she would push, but for the first time she sensed sentiment in him and decided not to.

" _Will you please tell me what happened._ " It occurred to her then that telepathy was really convenient if you were willing to put up with someone in your head. If all humans could do this she imagined a world much lazier.

Wait, why was she not getting any of his extra chitter chatter thoughts? He was apparently getting hers as he had responded to them when it was at his convenience. " _It is because I am trained in telepathy, I have a multitude of shields and can control what I broadcast_."

" _Don't change the subject._ "

" _I was not aware I was._ " She glared at him when all she wanted to do was slap him but that would likely result in her getting a broken hand. Needing to do something with her hands she opened the fridge she was leaning on.

She scanned the shelf, did these guys have anything besides sandwiches and beer? Sofiya finally found the jackpot in the freezer - good old choco ice cream right on top of a pile of vodka. She opted for the ice cream, laughing at the array of spoons in a small box beside it. In the door of the freezer there appeared to be bags of ice ready for injuries, she grabbed one.

Thankfully the table in the designated kitchen area was still standing so she set her supplies down and rightened a chair to sit in. Opening the container and placing the ice bag on her head she decided to continue the conversation. She gave him a daring look and he sat down as well. The image of him sitting in a chair looked weird, it was easy to picture him in thrown laced with gold.

"So do you ever take off that hideous horned hat?" She asked out loud between bites. It was still a habit to speak aloud.

" _It shows my status,_ " he answered in her head.

"Ah, so it's an intimidation thing," Sofiya almost choked on her ice cream as Loki surprised her and rolled his eyes. She had never seen him do something so normal. He always acted like he had a stick up his ass and a teacup on his head leaving him incapable of most mannerisms beside a devious smile and an eyebrow lift. He lifted his eyebrow at her just then and propped his scepter against the table before he leaned back in his seat.

There was something wrong with him looking so normal, something dangerous. She could almost forget that he wanted to take over the world.

"So let's talk about this," Sofiya motioned to herself.

" _For a human, you are very manipulative._ " At this point she fully expected him to know all her plans, but that didn't stop her from implicating them.

"I find that most humans are." She gave him his time. People started to wander back in.

" _During the stone incident it seems that somehow the ability to yield magic was transferred to you and you seem to have unlocked more than beginners level magic,_ " his voice trailed in her head and it no longer felt as weird as first did.

She was silent for some time. Her thoughts to chaotic for him to get much of a read on her. She was in shock at his words, a moment later her thoughts calmed down.

" _Okay, what now._ "

" _I would have expected more of a fight with you._ " By now she was used to his unnerving eyes, the intensity still had the same effect on her but she was able to stand it now. Every lock of their eyes was like some type of challenge to see who would look away first.

" _I have time to breakdown later,_ " Sofiya said with a shrug. For the immediate time being she needed to find a way to not blow up. She cocked her head to the side while maintaining eye contact.

" _I am not your teacher nor your mentor, you will have to find someone else to help you._ " He acted all offended that she would think of him to help. She had no other ideas of who to go to. Getting lost in thought for a moment she realized her life was likely changed forever. A wave of sadness rose from her chest before she shook it off to replace it with a feeling of purpose.

Sofiya did not want to be a 'superhero' by any means, but if she could put a dent in Loki's plans it would all be worth it.

Lucky she was not as clueless as the rest of the world was even though it was beginning to get a clue. Her rude awakening had been months ago when she broke into her father's office after he got called to an emergency meeting.

He had left in such a rush he forgot to lock up what he was reading. It had been a file on the events that happened in New Mexico surrounding Thor as well as information on some group called Hydra. The file under it was one that had several pages with information on individuals that could potentially be used to put together some type of team called the Avengers.

Some of the things she had read . . . Earth was not as mundane a place as she had once thought it to be. Going to SHIELD was a possibility when she got out of here. They would have a better idea of what to do. But would they treat her like some type of experiment? Sofiya froze realizing that wandering thoughts could get her in trouble in her current company.

Loki just watched her, not commenting on any of her internal dialogue. She knew what he was doing. It was something she had learned and frequently used as well, getting your opponent to dig themselves in a deeper hole by not interrupting them.

" _Well, what if something like that happens to me again,_ " Sofiya decided to maneuver around his plans and ask him a direct question, halting any thoughts until he answered.

" _As long as you are here and my operation is at stake, I will ease the situation. But once you are out of my presence, it is none of my concern,_ " Loki answered nonchalantly as he placed a hand on the table and moved slightly closer.

"Great I'm a ticking time bomb." She said in exasperation while she was putting the lid back on the ice cream while taking the ice pack from her head and placing it on the table. Glancing down at her hands for a moment to do so she could not help but feel like she had lost the no looking away challenge.

Tracing the label of the ice cream she watched as the condensation was swept up with her finger. What if she just left the ice cream out to melt? She had done it as a child and got scolded but now she was in an evil lair - wasn't this how criminals acted?

Loki decided he found humans entertaining, at least this one. Finding Sofiya's constant stream of thought less annoying as time went by. He found it impossible to be able to predict her every thought, her every move. She caught him in most of his tricks but that was quite alright. He could up his game, let her think she knew his prerogative and then crumble her.

The picture of her bowing before him sent a warm sensation through his blood. He wanted her to bow, to announce her allegiance to him, her undying servitude, willing to do anything he wanted. But that was not enough, no he needed her to do it willingly. He could physically force her to do anything, she was weak, but that was as tasteful to him as her willing submission. She would always be weaker than him, after all she was human.

Loki wanted to watch her eyes as she accepted the fact that she was weaker, would never win. He wanted to watch that fiery spirit die under his foot, snuffing out the fire.

"And don't think I didn't notice that you benefited from what happened," Sofiya interrupted his own thoughts and brought him back to reality.

" _It is time you go to bed. Tomorrow morning we leave for Germany._ " He was done playing for the night. His amusement at her thoughts was weaning and he had things to do.

"Why Germany and why 'we'?" Finally breaking his gaze upon her he waved his hand dismissing her. His battle reflexes crafted from years of practice no match for her feeble attempt to catch him off guard by chucking the container at him. Little minx had not even thought about it to give him a warning. As she walked to her corner he teleported the ice cream to the freezer.

The floor was very uncomfortable and cold but at least her sleeping bag was good at containing heat. It didn't help that her head was pounding. Still, Sofiya would take this any day over being treated how most abduction victims were.

The events of recent had put a fault in her escape plans. She had no way of knowing if Loki had been telling the truth or not. He could just have said some of those things to make her feel dependent on him and scared of what would happen if she left. She did not want to endanger anyone else though, so until she came up with a plan to not blow up she was stuck here.

Watching as people scurried about like ants she tried to figure out what everyone was doing. There seemed to be no order to the chaos though. Loki kept appearing and disappearing down tunnels.

Lucky she had the corner to herself as another one was taken by several other sleeping bags with bodies in them. They seemed to only sleep for two hours at a time. There was a sense of urgency to their waking too, whatever Loki was planning was going to happen soon. Slowly she fell asleep.

She woke up becoming alert faster than usual. Everything seemed to look the same. She could not help but want to get another look at what Erik was building, maybe she would be able to make out what it was now.

Sofiya had no way of knowing how long she had been asleep or what time it was. The lights, constant chatting as well as foot traffic were doing horrible things for her head. She didn't have the choice of sleeping off her concussion like he knew she should. But she did wish for less noise, maybe the tunnels would be quieter and she would get the bonus of being able to explore.

No longer caring if Loki knew she was walking about, she gingerly stood up and walked to the closest tunnel. Peaking she saw that it was dimly lit so she decided this would be a good time to start exploring. They both knew she would stay close for now. That was until she figured out what to do with her new abilities. That little bit about going to Germany in the morning was enough to keep her coming back as well. The more intel she could gather about his plans the better.

Taking one step across the tunnel entrance and the response from Loki was almost immediate.

" _Sofiya,_ " his voice rumbled through her mind in warning. Had she woken him? Did he even need to sleep?

" _Chill, I'm just exploring,_ " she heard no reply from him and guessed that was an affirmative.

The further she got the less noise she could hear until it was only her footsteps. She finally had her thoughts to herself, or so she thought. Better make sure.

" _Hey Loki?_ " She waited.

" _What?_ " Sofiya had gotten used to his mental voice, it typically lacked any emotion and was very short and to the point.

" _You are not in my thoughts all the time right? Just when we talk and communication is open?_ "

" _I would not subject myself to your useless banter all the time, that would be agonizing._ " She felt relief at his answer, he could be lying but she would just have to trust him for now.

She paid attention to the feeling in her head and could almost feel his presence leave but she could be making something up just to feel safe. It was weird having someone in her head besides herself, it was almost like her whole life had been a lie, her one safe place had never been safe at all.

Alone in her thoughts she went back over everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. There was no way of knowing what was happening at SHIELD. Loki's entrance had not gone unnoticed though and neither had her absence, they would surely be looking for them.

For the first time in her life, she was truly alone. It didn't feel as daunting as she believed it would, a little depressing sure but nothing she couldn' handle. She thought she was doing well, technically she had still been under the care of others when she was abducted, so that did not go against her independent living score.

Appreciating the time to herself, Sofiya let her brain have a break from thinking. Her headache had improved slightly when she got a nagging feeling in her gut. Turning around she was about to begin making her way out of the tunnels when she heard a second set of footsteps. She was not alone. Someone else was in the tunnels.

Sofiya would have laughed to herself if she were not worried. Here she was marching around a tunnel system when there were one hundred plus men around that were most likely wanted by the law. Convincing herself she was just overreacting as she stepped forward, it was probably kids that had snuck in the tunnel for some fun.

Sofiya didn't have any weapons on her and she wondered briefly if she could use her new abilities, but she had not even experimented with them yet. It could go drastically wrong and she could end up causing more trouble than it was worth, hurting herself in the process. She put 'experimenting with her new abilities' on her mental to-do list as she turned the corner and ran smack into someone's chest.

Staying calm as she surveyed Mr. Creep closer than she ever would have wanted to. She should have known better than to go wandering off when he had given her several weird looks. Of course he would be the one to follow her. He was almost as tall as Loki and twice as broad.

Trying her best to stand up taller and seem unaffected by his presence, she took in the threatening nature of his stance. Though Loki was evil this guy was disgustingly evil. Loki had never shown any interest besides just conquering Earth and killing those that got in his path, this guy had worse things running through his mind.

"Excuse me," she said trying to get around him. Maybe he would let her walk back without causing any problems.

"Excuse yourself little girl, come here." She started to panic as his intentions became clear to her. He reached forward and grabbed her upper arm applying enough pressure to bruise.

"Leave me alone," she snapped and tried to jerk her arm free even though she knew she would not be successful.

"That's not what you really want." His voice sent every nerve in her body on high alert as he got closer.

"Um, I think I know what I want." He was backing her against a wall.

"Women never know what they want." Grabbing her other arm he pushed her back fully against the wall. The cold chill of tile soaked through her shirt and only added to the ice coursing through her spin.

After testing his grip again, she knew there was no way she was going to be able to get away unless he gave her an opportunity.

"Let go!" She shouted and her voice echoed down the tunnel. Hopefully someone would hear and come to help but given the odds with the type of people that were in the tunnels she was more likely to get an audience that would cheer him on than try and intervene.

"Come here baby." Kicking out at him only made him press his body closer to hers. Cringing as she smelled alcohol on his breath she tried to get away again twisting her body. "Bitch." Adrenaline started to run through her veins as the dangerousness of the situation sunk in. Fighting harder only earned her a slap. The pain in her head threatened to overtake her and for a moment her body went slack allowing him to get her into a choke hold.

Loki, she could call to him for help but that felt like losing somehow. She felt herself weakening without oxygen and decided to push away her pride and called out to him in desperation. She would not put it above him to leave her in this situation though. She could see the tint start to come over her skin. Loki had not given any answer of acknowledgment, she was on her own it seemed.

She dug her nails into his stomach and his elbow wavered enough to where she could clamp her teeth down on his arm, she did not let go until she could get out of his hold.

Taking off down the tunnel she took but a few steps before a sharp pain erupted from her side. She slowed but did not stop as she felt a handle of a knife protruding from her lower back. Sofiya took comfort in the fear that rocked through her as she watched her skin begin to glow brighter before she fell to the ground.

" _Stop._ " Someone said through her foggy thoughts, her eyes snapped up to him and on instinct, she reached out and aimed her hand at him, a blast shot out and missed.

" _Fool._ " She realized it was Loki's voice and she stopped her blind assault but continued to try and get away.

" _Shh, I would never stoop that low. Calm down before you bring the roof down on us._ " He muttered before she finally passed out from a combination of exhaustion, pain, and her concussion.

* * *

 _Reviews please - do you like it, hate it? Opinion? Theories? Anything?_


	4. Chapter 4

_Please review, feedback really would help me, things you like or don't like. I have written about 20 stories but this is the first one that has more than one Pov. in it so feedback on that would be good! Do you like the timing of my Pov shifts or not?_

 _I also just finalized the plot for there time on Sakkar in the future, I am excited for part two of this story where I can put in my own plots and stuff! I hope you will like what I have planned._

 _It occured to me that I might have not been clear. When it comes to her new … powers, Sofiya is an unreliable narrator. Their mental communication does happen in his head but she is not experienced or trained enough to know the difference. She also does not know alot about the mental plane. Sofiya will learn about it in the upcoming chapters._

 _Dress - Taylor Swift_

 _Whatever you want - Pink_

* * *

The first thing Sofiya became aware of was the pain in her back. The second thing she became aware of was the comfy warm surface she was lying on. Opening her eyes, she saw she was still in the tunnel system, the ceiling was full of those same old tiles. The room was not damp or cold though, turning her head she saw why.

Her vision was filled with sheets of a dark green and her nose was assaulted with a strong aroma of woodsy peppermint. She reached out to feel her back, the pain of the movement causing her muscles to tense. Feeling a patch of fabric covering her stab wound she felt for signs of dampness. Sighing as it was dry and her hand came away clean she closed her eyes and took in the comfort of the bed for a moment.

Surprisingly, Sofiya was not in as much pain as she thought she would be in considering she had been stabbed in the back. She did a quick glance around to see if she could find a mirror. Maybe it was not as bad as she initially thought.

Tentatively she tried to sit up, nausea from the pain flooded her stomach. After some trial and error, she was able to prop herself up against the headboard. Immediately regretting her decision as her stomach lurched.

There was no doubt in her mind that this was where Loki had been disappearing to. She rolled her eyes, it was so like Loki to have a lavish secret area separate from the humans he thought himself above. Seriously though how had he gotten all this stuff in here?

In addition to the king-size bed she was situated in, there was a dresser with a mirror, a rug, one chair, and a table. All the furniture was made of the same dark wood and the engravings in them looked to match each other.

As she got a better view of the bed she realized it was very ornate from the frame to the hand-sewn designs in it in the bedding. Running her hand over the fabric she fingered the embroidery. Cocking her head to the side she saw it was some type of scene. Tracing her finger across the sheet she saw a figure, the horns giving him away as Loki. Beside him was a man with a hammer, that had to be Thor. The two characters were surrounded by some type of savage animals, they reminded her of a creature out of Lord of the Rings.

The beast had the body of a wolf but the head of a bear, foam dripping from its jagged teeth. The detail really was astonishing. Moving her eyes to the next couple of scenes, Sofia saw a brutal array of battle scenes leading up until the last panel in which both Loki and Thor stood victorious in the middle of a pile of the dead beast. This was not the only story etched into the sheets, Loki was the star of most though.

Moving the sheets to the side she was thankful she was so close to the side of the bed and not in the middle of it. Delicately maneuvering her feet over the bed she tested putting weight on them. Nothing besides an uncomfortable tugging sensation in her back.

Spying her shoes she slipped them on before gently standing on her feet, taking one step at a time until she reached the dresser. Considering what she had been through Sofiya thought she didn't look too shabby. Her shirt was ripped in a couple of spots and there was some dirt under her left eye. Her hair was still fastened up with a couple of stray locks out of place but besides that, she looked fine.

Gingerly lifting her shirt and positioning herself where she could twist as see her back, Sofiya looked into the mirror. Peeling the makeshift bandage off she was shocked at what she saw.

Fingering the wound with the hand not holding her shirt up, she surveyed the puckered red skin. There was no way she had been out for more than a couple hours but the wound had completely closed up. A small yelp escaped her lips as she pressed too hard, internally it did not appear to be completely healed.

Suddenly she remembered the bruise on her hip. Pulling the edge of her pants down she saw that the bruise she had gotten in the car chase was completely gone. Impossible, that had been a deep and nasty bruise that should have taken weeks to heal. Just to be sure she poked the hell out the area. No more pain.

"How ..." She drawled out as she poked more at her hip. Standing there poking and observing the sealed wound was not going to get her anywhere though so she dropped her shirt. Taking a closer more investigative look at her surroundings she took in as much as she could not knowing when someone might pop in and her time to spy would be over.

Sofiya was notorious for going through anything that was around her. It had gotten to the point that her father was no longer able to keep any sensitive documents at home. But this was different, Loki was sure to have some type of magical enchantment keeping his things safe.

Just as she touched the handle the dresser ignited into green fire. "Fuck," she exclaimed as she fell to her ass. "Shit, shit, shit," she tried to smother the flames that were crawling up her arm. There was nothing more than a tingle on her skin under the flames but the shock was enough to scare her. Taking her shirt off she threw it at the dresser. Left in her sports bra she laid back onto the ground trying to catch her breath. Her hand going to her back which protested in pain from her movements.

Everything that had happened started to hit her again. What had her life come to? It all seemed so crazy. She had powers, she was being kept in an aliens lair. Said alien was trying to take over the world, not to mention she had been caught in an explosion twice now and probably should be dead.

Thinking back to the last moments before she lost consciousness only further complicated things. That could not be right, she remembered shooting something from her hand but she had not had any type of weapon. A laugh escaped her lips and then another, she moaned between laughing because of the pain. There was no way in hell that she had materialized something and shot it from her hand. There was no way in hell any of this was real, she had to be dreaming.

"Why will you not just die," a deep casual voice echoed around the room. She looked up from her sprawled position on the floor to see Loki walking in wiping blood off his scepter. She tried not to think about whose blood it probably was or what his action meant.

"So I take it you didn't do some type of mojo and help heal me?" Watching as he approached the dresser and opened it, but from her position on the floor she could not see much.

"Why would I heal a human?" He scoffed as he turned around, well that certainly was a clear answer.

"Sooo who healed me?" A shirt landed on her stomach and she sat up to put it on.

"Depressingly you healed yourself," he honestly sounded put out by this fact.

"How long was I out?" Sofiya asked as she put the shirt on, it was green and made of some cotton-like material. It did not escape her attention that the green hue of the shirt was just a smidge off from the tone of green that she had found Loki wearing so far. The fabric was layered in some type of crossing down the middle pattern. Pulling it over her head she became aware of that strong woodsy peppermint smell again.

"A couple of hours. Now stop the inquisition." Ignoring his wishes she asked another question.

"Whose blood is that," she asked as she propped herself up on her arms leaning back.

"The one who assaulted you, I made an example out of him to the others."

She felt like she should feel worse about Mr. Creep ... well, she wasn't totally sure he was dead, maybe just wounded. Sofiya decided against asking for clarification of his punishment.

"Get out." Loki now stood assertively over her and she rolled her eyes at his blatant display of dominance.

"Make me."

"I think we have established that I am very capable of that," lifting his eyebrow at her he nodded to the door.

"Fine," she snapped and rolled over making sure to mind her lower back as she stood up. Their conversation leaving her with more questions than answers.

"Do not think you can go far." Feeling the stupid chain materializing on her ankle she turned around and flipped him her middle finger before walking out of the room and right into the main room. She was on a leash once again.

Making her way to her corner of the main room, she picked up the Harry Potter book, which was still laying were she and left it, before sitting down. The book sat unopened in her lap as she saw the huge spot of blood pooled on the ground not but ten feet in front of her. That much blood ... why would he kill Mr. Creep just for going after her? Even thinking the name she had given him set her on edge.

If things had gone differently, she would have been ... no, she could not go down that path. Once she was safe she could afford to think about that, but this was about survival, she had to keep her head straight. Sofiya read a sentence of the novel before she got lost in thought again.

Loki had come when she called. That complicated things more than it cleared them up. She knew she was alive because she was a pawn that had not been moved yet, but she was being kept safe and feed. Several possibilities ran through her head.

The first being that Loki was a very strict ruler. She knew he had some master plan, some timeline he had to follow. Distracted minions were not good for that. That seemed like a plausible reason, Loki killed Mr. Creep to maintain control.

Maybe he wanted to earn her trust. She was not clueless to the fact that she was now a time bomb. It would not be below Loki to keep her around only to exploit her as a bomb at a future time of his choosing.

It could also be that he had a savior complex, she knew Thor did. But that would not make sense because he was planning world domination, war and death sure to ensue. Unless he thought he was saving humanity by ruling over them. One sovereign leader for every single person alive. So many people would stand up against him, so many lives would be lost.

If he was building some type of brainwashing machine with the Tesseract, that would make it a lot easier. But he would still need an army to implement it. Looking around she saw one hundred potential soldiers but that would not be enough. Of course, she could just be overthinking all this. Not wanting to think about the situation any longer she got lost in the pages of Harry Potter.

Less than an hour later Barton came and got her from her place in the corner.

"It's time to go. We will not be returning here so I don't have to bag you." He watched her as if he was expecting her to fall as she got out of the chair, "Do you need a change of bandage before we go?" By the look on his face, she realized he must have been the one to clean and bandage her wound.

"No, I took it off." Barton nodded and led the way.

The pain was less than it had been when at her time of wakening than it was when she had sat down in the main room. Her rate of healing was impossible ... unless it was a result of the infinity stone incident. If that was the case, she was back to stage one of trying to find people she could trust with her new secret. SHIELD might try to make more people like her, the ultimate soldier. And along the way they would experiment on her leaving her body and mind with who knows what type of damage.

Trust, it seemed everything revolved around that one element. Deciding to put one of her earlier theories to the test, she reached out to Loki. It was getting easier and clearer to reach out to him. Kind of like they were attached by some string and if she pulled on it, she could get his attention.

" _Loki, is my accelerated healing a result of the stones?_ " If he decided to respond without a riddle or deflection, or with the truth - she would know his intentions. She knew he was trying to win her over so he could use her. They both knew the answer to this question already, it was just a matter of how he chose to answer.

" _Yes,_ " after a moment he answered. Rolling her tongue over her teeth she looked at the ground before looking back up at Barton. Loki could have figured out her plan though, maybe she should have asked a different question. One where the answer was not so clear.

"Germany?" Sofiya asked and Barton nodded. Of course, they could be taking her anywhere and just chosing to tell her some random location.

She was about to play a dangerous game. Acting like she trusted him, then at the last moment, when it counted ... She dared not even process the thought in case he searched her mind.

Emerging from the tunnels she saw that it was still dark out. As she looked up at the sky she could not help but imagine the things that could be out there. Other planets, other people. People ... the word felt wrong but she guessed she could call them that. Loki looked human enough, besides the fact that he was taller than most. But there were bound to be others out there that did not look like humans.

Just as she was getting seated in the most likely stolen military jet, Loki emerged from the tunnels. She could tell he was having a moment. Scepter in hand and golden horns on his head, she observed as he took in the night air and smiled deviously.

" _Having a moment are we?_ " Sofiya questioned him.

" _One day you will kneel to me._ "

" _Never._ "

" _Oh yes, you will kneel and you will beg for my mercy,_ " just then his gaze shifted from the surroundings to her eyes. There must have been forty feet between them, but it felt like he was breathing down her neck.

" _Over my dead body._ " His smile shifted from devious to challenging.

" _Possibly._ " Bowing his head to her in promise before he crossed the rest of the way to the jet.

Loki boarded the jet and went to one of four individual seats at the head of the plane. She was thankful she would not be subject to his unnerving gaze the entire flight. The plane ride was uneventful and she found the hum of the engines relaxing, eventually drifting off to sleep.

She had been dreaming of home when Loki woke her in the most unconventional way.

" _Wake up,_ " he whispered into her thoughts and she opened her eyes to glare at him. Loki had moved from his original seat and was now sitting directly across from her. He continued on unaffected, " _We will be touching down shortly and I must include you in the plans so you do not end up ruining them_."

" _You're so nice._ " Sofiya's reply dripped with sarcasm.

" _Thank you, I am honored you think so highly of me,_ " Loki gave her a dashing smile, " _We are responding to an invitation that your father got to an art gala fundraiser._ "

" _Germany ... he said he wasn't going to that one,_ " her mind tried to connect the dots, tried to determine what his plan was.

" _Which is why, when we show up you are going to say you wanted to come in place of him and promise a large donation._ "

" _Do I have a choice?_ "

" _No,_ " he answered cheerfully.

" _Did not think so. Wait ... they'll surely catch us as soon as we go in public. There are cameras everywhere._ "

" _The rest of my plans do not need me present, after tonight it will only be a matter of hours until your world bows before me_." Her spine straightened and her thoughts went dark for a moment as she saw the world on fire, children screaming for lost parents.

" _So what is the point of tonight?_ "

" _An eyeball_." She pursed her lips and nodded. Then he needed to get in somewhere or something. An eye would be logically useful if he needed to steal something locked behind a retina scanner. Or perhaps he was making some type of exotic cuisine, that was a more disturbing thought. " _I do not plan on eating it,_ " Loki chuckled from his seat.

" _Do you plan on killing anyone?_ " The question formed in her mind before she could stop it. Sofiya did not want to know the answer, but she needed to.

" _Only if they get in my way._ " He sounded so nonchalant about the who thing, humans really meant nothing to him. The least she could do was make sure he didn't have to bust in there killing people. If he could walk in without causing destruction, lives would be saved.

" _Then I will help. We won't get in wearing what we are._ "

"This is not what I meant when I said we needed to get new clothes." Sofiya stood outside of some fancy clothing store in Germany that had just closed for the night. Loki was currently pushing open the door that she had been sure was locked several seconds ago.

"It is what we are doing," Loki said as they walked in. She rolled her eyes and traveled further down the rows elegant dresses. Perusing the isle's she looked at several dresses not really caring for the style but trying to find something in her size. As long as the dress was not hideous it would get the job done.

Sofiya found a dark blue one with a dainty strap that branched off from the high neckline crossing at the back before attaching to the dress again at its waist. The dress would fit snuggly against her curves and then fan out. What had drawn her eyes to the dress was the slight sparkle, not too much just a hint every couple inches. In the right light, it almost looked like stars twinkling across the night sky. Taking the dress off the rack she turned to look for Loki and saw him standing opposite a mannequin.

His Asgardian outfit started to shimmer and then she watched as inch by inch it was replaced with the outfit in front of him. Her jaw dropped. Every time she thought she had seen it all, he went on to do some new trick.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Honestly out of all the things she had seen in the last day, this should be the least surprising. She knew by the look he gave her that he was not going to answer.

The outfit looked good on him, Sofiya had to give him that. His magic must have also resized the clothing and fitted it perfectly to his measurements. Loki wore a simple suit with a black jacket that ended midcalf. His accessory piece, a scarf with a green and white design.

Loki took a moment to look at the dress she was holding. His eyes lazily drifted over her form, a slight tingle trailing behind where his gaze met her body. She felt the fabric of her shirt and jeans being replaced with that of the dress. Before she looked down at herself, Sofiya narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him watching as the corner of his mouth went up.

She froze as she finally looked down, "Loki the dress I had was dark blue not dark green." His response was a simple shrug.

"No 'thank you'?"

"How about a - fuck you."

"I suppose that will suffice for now. Hurry up and find shoes," he nodded to the back of the store. As much as he ordered people around and casually dismissed then she wondered if he got off on it.

Finding a simple pair of black stiletto heels, she walked back to Loki. Damn, he still had a full head of height advantage on her. Loki nodded and held out a long black jacket to her. Sofiya looked questioning at it but decided if he wanted to harm her there were easier ways.

"I still need to do my face and hair," she said as they walked out of the shop and into their awaiting car. Barton held the door open and once they were all seated, she turned to Loki waiting for him to answer her.

"No need. I saw advertisements in the clothing shop." He took a minute to take in her face before she felt her hair being wrapped up and her face tingled slightly. She turned to look at her reflection in the reflection of the car door window.

Her hair was wrapped up in a loose bun and her eyelids shimmered with gold to match the sparkles on her dress. Magically changing an outfit was one thing but hair and makeup? She may not know a lot about sorcery but she knew what he had just done probably took a lot of skill.

"Could I ever do that?" Sofiya wondered aloud. Her heart picked up speed as she imagined herself one day being able to do as he did.

"Possibly."

She was about to ask if he could teach her when she remembered his earlier words. Sulking for a moment before she looked at her reflection again she decided to just live in the moment. In any other circumstances what they were doing might be considered romantic in a Bonny and Clyde type of way.

But her reality was worse. She felt dirty in a way, playing dress-up to try and save innocent lives. It was all a game to Loki, a sick game. A sick game that she was playing right into. Soon it would be over she would be back in her own bed.

Loki left her to her own thoughts until they pulled up to a museum with spotlights and lots of journalists. They would be found by SHIELD as soon as they stepped foot out of the vehicle. It was only a matter of time until they showed up.

The car door opened and Loki stepped out first, he held his hand out to her. She hesitated before he sent another order her way, " _Take it. The more you go along with it the fewer people I have to kill._ " She gritted her teeth and then plastered a smile on her face. She would have stepped on his foot as she got out if she thought it would have hurt him.

Emerging from the car Sofiya took in a deep breath, she was free but far from freedom. Just a little while longer.

" _Let me handle the talking._ " She was gonna argue with him but she could feel his presence leave her mind and no way was she going to argue out loud and risk someone getting killed.

She soon realized why he had said leave the talking to him, there was no way she would be able to talk in German. Hell, she was surprised Loki knew German. It sounded like gibberish to her when he spoke to the doorman.

Loki pointed to a list the other man was holding and then pointed to Sofiya. Playing along she smiled up at the man and leaned in closer to Loki. If she thought it was unnerving to lock eyes with him, that was nothing compared to having her arm locked in his. Her skin buzzed where they were in contact and she had to physically slow her heart down. Loki emitted a dangerous air, weaker people in his presence might falter, but she just wanted to shove him off a cliff.

"You have German on Asgard?" She asked aloud as they were waved inside.

"No, I read a book last night." Sofiya bobbed her head for a moment, okay then.

"Right, you're a genius." Her arm was hooked in his elbow as they made their way into the entryway of the museum. She hated going to events like this. She sucked in a breath as she checked her smile which had fallen.

" _This won't take long darling._ " They had almost made their way through the den of press and into the actual event when she heard her name on the tongue of an English journalist.

"Michael Marshal's daughter Sofiya Elizabeth Marshal, heir to the fortune, has decided to attend in the arms of a tall, dark, and handsome man."

"Shit," she mumbled under her breath. If she had had her phone she knew it would be blowing up in a matter of seconds. She never made public appearances and sadly that only made it that much all the worse when she did go out.

"We do not have time to fret with them, keep walking."

"Thank god." She realized her mistake the second the words formed on her lips.

"You are welcome," Loki purred with all the self-assurance in the world.

"Oh my ... dammit, you're insufferable." Just then they walked into her definition of hell. Cameras were everywhere, people were talking non-stop and all she wanted to do was walk out the way she came but Loki pulled her forward.

She finally started to relax as they walked through another set of doors and into the main event area. Walking out onto a balcony she observed the festivities down below. Around three hundred finely dressed ladies and gentleman sauntered around.

She held her breath as she looked at the stairs in front of her, they were a little to narrowly spaced for her liking. Sofiya clutched onto Loki for support hoping she did not fall face forward onto the floor. Meanwhile, Loki was surveying the crowd looking for his target.

" _I found my target._ " Sofiya felt like she had performance nerves, not for herself but for everyone else. What if someone tried to step in and they got killed? She surveyed the crowd again, they seemed like the type of company her father would hold. Her nerves lessened, in no way would one of them be stepping up against Loki.

" _And why are you telling me this?_ " They reached the final step and she walked beside him through a pair of columns. She saw him flip his scepter and her hand came up to cover her mouth as he whacked a man who was standing on the other side of the column.

"That was unnecessary!" Sofiya went to push Loki and ended up stumbling while Loki did not budge. Okay, that was it with these shoes, slipping them off before grabbing them in one hand Sofiya took a few hurried steps to catch up with Loki.

"On the contrary, I found it completely necessary," Loki argued as he grabbed a man and headed to the nearest raised surface which happened to be this ugly life-sized horse white marble statue thing with a flattened gold back as to be a table.

She started to get frustrated at his overdramatic antics as he proceeded to flip the man onto the surface of the table. Loki was pulling something out of his coat but she could not see the object. The room had gone quiet and the next thing she heard was a sicking squish and everyone in the room let out a collective cry of surprise.

The eye, Loki had said he needed an eye. Unconsciously she had come to stand behind him and could now see some type of device that was embedded in this man's eye. Oh fuck, that was not going to come out easy.

There are so many evil things Loki could get with that depending on whose eye it was. This eye might be the last thing standing between him and a bunch of weapons of mass destruction, what if it was for nuclear weapons? Loki very much so could take over the world if he had a couple of those in his arsenal.

"Control yourself," Loki breathed calmly not looking back at her but she knew all the same his words were directed at her.

At Loki's words she looked down to see the tint to her skin. This was very bad, it was beside the point that she could be discovered if even one person took a picture. The problem was that she could kill all the people she was trying to save, potentially killing more people than were even initially in danger.

"How am I supposed to relax in this situation?" Seeing the greenish-gold tint only put her more on edge.

"Do you want them to get pictures of you glowing?" Loki sounded like that was exactly what he wanted to happen.

"You're not helping. Can't you just do what you did before?" The color was getting brighter and her fear of herself was growing.

"That takes concentration and I have bigger things to focus on. It will not have built up to full strength this fast, you have to do it yourself."

Sofiya had to at least attempt to contain her ... she was too in denial at the moment to call it magic. All she had to do was calm down, but the more she thought about it the more she freaked out.

Loki turned away from the man looking into her eyes for a moment, he turned back around before she could determine what his gaze had been for. The next instant he took a deep breath and turned around completely to face her.

Her body felt like it had been dunked in lukewarm water, she was sinking fast and the pressure was increasing. The sensation was more intense than the first time, the pressure so high she could not even close her eyes to blink.

Then it was gone and Loki was already taking steps away from her. Doing a quick glance over herself, she felt calmer and her skin looked as it should. Promising herself next time she had a moment to herself she would work on meditation she took off after Loki.

Right before her eyes his Asgardian armor materialized in a show of gold sparks. Loki glanced to his side just as she had almost caught up with him, she ducked as a car flew up in the air and came down hard skidding on its roof down the street. And he had told her to control herself? Hypocrite.

"Kneel before me," Loki's voice boomed through the air directed to all the people that had managed to run out from the museum combined with the unlucky bystanders.

In any other circumstances, she would have found it funny that the crowd was ignoring him but considering he had the ability to kill them all ... Sofiya held her breath and waited. It should not be too long until SHIELD showed up.

Just when she thought she had once again seen it all, copies of Loki started to appear surrounding the group of people. The only difference was they held spears not scepters. This had to be some type of illusion, there was no way there were that many physical copies of him. Then she saw one shimmer out and then into existence to confirm her hunch.

"I said. KNEEL," Loki repeated his order and thankfully this time the people listened.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" Sofiya was not surprised by the you-are-the-little-guy-I-am-the-god speech he was giving, "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

She spied a man trying to stand up before he peered out above the others and then looked directly at Loki. The man could have been her grandfather. "Not to men like you," the man said. Sofiya felt like clapping and crying for him at the same time.

"There are no men like me." Loki's response was so predictable.

"There are always men like you," the elder man spoke soberly.

"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." Loki raised his scepter and Sofiya raised her shoe to throw it at him. She was not sure what she was going to accomplish by doing so, but she just had to do something.

Throwing her shoe just as he shot his energy blast Loki snapped his head back to look at her and her eyes widened. Fuck, should not have done that.

Sofiya had missed the figure that fell from the sky when she was throwing her shoe and suddenly Loki was thrown back tumbling on top of Sofiya. He had to weigh at least a ton and was dense as hell. Before she hit her head on the ground something came between her head and the concrete. She had closed her eyes in anticipation of hitting her head again. Here cushion was jerked out from under her head and her eyes snapped open in time to see Loki stand up.

She decided she just was not going to get up this time. Nothing good ever came out of it anyway.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." She heard the unmistakable voice of Captain America and she breathed a breath of relief, Sofiya felt like crying and laughing at the same time. It would all be over soon, just some horrible nightmare.

"The soldier. A man out of time," Loki purred and Sofiya decided this might be worth sitting up for, seeing Loki beat down to his ass.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Her heart lifted even higher as she heard a jet approach from above.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Wishing she had popcorn Sofiya propped herself up against the closest thing she could get to and got ready to watch a great show. Like fireworks Loki sent a blast at the jet and ended up missing as it maneuvered out of the way; regrettably, the move enabled his hit to nail a building.

At the same time as the building's explosion rocked the night sky Captain America threw his shield hitting Loki in the shoulder, Loki did not even fall back a step.

The distraction enabled Captain to get a punch in before Loki could swing his scepter, but Captain was able to block it. All the sudden Captain was thrown back toward Sofiya and she scrambled to the side.

Captain threw his shield again but Loki had learned the trick already and deflected the metal where it landed at Sofiya's feet. She narrowed her eyes at it. Was Loki expecting her to run off with it or something? She shrugged and looked back up in time to see Loki swing at Captain's back like he was a pinata.

That had to hurt, she watched helplessly as Loki approached Captain and held the blunt end of his scepter to his head.

"Kneel," Loki said husky, slightly winded from the hits he had taken.

She couldn't quite hear what Captain said but the next second he grabbed the end of the scepter and flipped kicking Loki in the side in the process. Sofiya had to give it to Loki, the guy had incredible recovery time as he took no hesitation in flipping Captain ten feet through the air.

Hearing something else coming from the sky, she looked up and grinned at where the sound was coming from, this was getting good. The infamous Tony Stark had arrived. Before Loki could make a move Iron Man was blasting Loki into the ground in a move that made her cringe in empathetic pain.

During this time Iron Man landed and came to stand in front of Loki redying all the weapons on his suit to face Loki.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Loki put up his hands and surrendered, his armor materializing away.

"Good move," Loki breathed out and Sofiya eyed him. This was not like him, if their verbal sparring had been any indication, he loved to get the last word, last punch in.

"Mr. Stark," Captain America said in greeting as he came to stand by Iron Man.

"Captain," Iron Man responded.

Sofiya was so happy she felt like clapping and jumping up and down. She was free, Loki was captured. All she wanted was a shower. She heard the jet lowering in the street behind her and turned to watch it.

A women in a blue, almost black suit walked out and surveyed the crowd. The women called out as her eyes landed on Sofiya, "Sofiya Marshal?"


	5. Chapter 5

re-edited as of 8/19

Hey peeps, so I am moved into college and such. This last month has been so busy! Here is the next chapter, it is not edited quite as well as the other chapters but I wanted to get it up! I will come back and edit the grammer a little later. Enjoy. And as alwasy reviews are lovely.

* * *

Sofiya watched as they loaded Loki onto the jet. He could have put up a better fight, could have even won the initial fight. Sofiya wanted to deny this but she knew it to be the truth. Loki was always scheming, always thinking of a way to one-up his competition.

Loki's gaze caught hers for a second before Stark pushed him into a seat, across from her. Loki awkwardly sat down with his handcuffs, unable to balance himself properly. Looking him over she saw no visible injuries. His hair had become a little disheveled after the fight but other than that he looked like he had just walked off some GQ photoshoot.

Loki was a wild card, he was absolutely insane. And now she was in a confined space, about to be hundreds of feet above the ground with him. Her knee started to shake with the tension that flowed through her body.

Gazing at his profile she took him in, really took him in for the first time. He always had a devious smile on his face, a testament to the fact he was always up to something. Even now in handcuffs, he sat with a comfortable confidence.

Her gaze narrowed as she wished his features were not… well so godly. His skin was perfect, his jaw not too squared, just enough to be masculine but not detract from his other features. Loki's eyes were alert and could alternate between hard and dominating to soft like a puppies in an instant.

Loki was putting off an air of calmness, not his normal domineering almighty presence. Yes, he was definitely up to something.

 _"Like what you see?"_ Pursing her lips in annoyance she brought her eyes back up to his but he was watching the others in the jet. She would not give him the satisfaction of being flustered at being caught watching him.

Her shoulders tensed as the jet took off, the last thing she wanted was for Loki to have some plan to blow them up mid-air. Natasha had explained to her that the handcuffs would give him a nasty shock if he tried to break them or use magic, but Sofiya doubted it would hold him back if he really wanted to escape.

Sofiya's attention was drawn to Steve Rogers as he came to sit down beside her, there was something awkward about seeing him in a seat and not standing. Steve let off an air of humble confidence in contrast to Loki, he was a natural leader, that much was clear.

"Hello Sofiya, I'm Steve," the smile he gave her made her want to smile back at him, so she did. "Nat told me about your conversation with her. I want you to know you can tell us anything, no matter how horrid. There are people on this team that have been through the worst of it, so if you want to talk to someone…"

"Thank you for the offer but like I told Natasha my treatment was not horrible, it was really the best anyone who has been abducted could wish for," Sofiya felt a little awkward about being treated so carefully by her rescuers. It had obviously been anticipated that her treatment had been the worst.

Loki could have treated her like she was nothing, and yet he had not. He did make sure to verbally remind her that she was a human and thus inferior to him, but he did not physically harm her. Her new abilities were probably easy for him to handle since she had no idea what to do with them herself. Thus he would have no fear of consequential actions that treating her bad might cause

"You're a brave young lady," Steve said bringing her back to reality. Images of the times she had chanced testing Loki's anger revolved around her mind, maybe stupid but not brave. "When we land, Natasha will take you to the infirmary if that is alright with you?"

Sofiya's first instinct was to argue that she did not need to go to the infirmary. Her head was doing better and she seemed to be healing just fine herself. Shit, what if they saw the scar on her back that had not been there before her abduction. They would ask questions and nothing in her file would give cause to a scar like that.

"Actually, I would like to tell you guys about what I learned in my time with Loki." She saw that he wanted to argue but he ended up just agreeing. Steve excused himself not long after.

Left to herself Sofiya ran through everything that had happened. It seemed like some crazy dream. It was over and she knew she should feel relieved but that was not the case. As long as Loki was on Earth, she would be tense.

Her eyes were drawn to his figure once again. Being freed from his grasp almost made more problems than it solved. How was she going to learn about whatever the fuck had happened between their magic? Sofiya could not deny it anymore, she had some type of magic, some type of abnormal power.

How was she going to hide it from the others around her when she could literally start glowing? How was she going to keep from exploding? If she did not learn how to control it, she could hurt those around her, Not knowing and not wanting to rely on Loki for a failsafe, her mind wandered. Noticing herself start to panic she switched her train of thought.

Her world had changed, crashed more like it. It was one thing to see on the news that there were others out in the universe, others that looked like humans. It was a scary thought knowing so much more existed. Sofiya looked over Loki's outfit. It was unlike the typical male outfit on Earth, she wondered if what he was wearing was like an everyday outfit for him or something that soldiers wore.

A morbid thought struck her out of nowhere. Sofiya wondered if they had pets on Asgard and if Loki had killed his own. After all, wasn't that the sign of a psychopath or something like that. Before she could think better of her actions, Sofiya reached out.

 _"Loki?"_

 _"Hum?"_ His eyes snapped to hers and she held his gaze.

 _"Do they have dogs on Asgard?"_ The returning stare he presented was blank. Biting her lip waiting for him to answer she looked away, " _Nevermind._ " She thought of a better question.

 _"Why did you let them capture you?"_ she asked a moment later. _  
_

 _"Let them?"_ His eyes softened as he cocked his head trying to play innocent.

 _"You and I both know you let yourself be caught, you want to be here."_

 _"Are you going to tell them of your predicament?_ " She had learned that it was a classic move of his to deflect the conversation.

 _"Answer the question I asked."_

 _"Metalman knows,_ " her heart froze at his words. Was he saying Stark had somehow found out of her abilities? How and when?

 _"What?"_ She did not put it below him to say this just to rile her up.

 _"His suit told him."_

 _"You could hear that?"_

" _The ignorance of humans is so great it is not even laughable, but concerning."_ Loki had almost successfully managed to get her sidetracked but she persisted.

 _"You avoided my question. You have a plan."_ Loki exhaled out loud shifting his position and a head turned to look her way.

Sofiya watched as his stance instantaneously changed before her eyes. His shoulders lifted, jaw tensed and head cocked to the side as he watched the floor of the jet. He looked to be focusing on something, anticipating it even.

Just then thunder rocked through the sky and Loki's eyes drifted to hers.

She heard someone say something but could not make out the words as she was focusing on what was happening in her head.

 _"Do you care for heights?"_ Something landed on the roof and she kicked away the instinct to move closer to Loki. If the jet was going to crash, Loki had the best chance of survival. An instant later a man that could only be Thor stood not three feet from her. Iron Man lunged but Thor deflected him easily.

There was no time for her to react as Loki dived at her and then she was lost in the wind. Ran hit her skin like needles and the temperature around her dropped drastically. She pushed against the person holding her and her body was jerked by the wind.

Lightning crackled close to her causing the hairs on her body to stand on end. Sofiya decided she was going to try and kill Loki if she survived this. What the hell had he been thinking!

"Asshole," she yelled but it was lost in the wind. She felt his arm wrap a secure grip around her waist and another wove it's way around her neck, his hand cradling the side of her head as he pulled her into his chest. She felt as if she was locked in a steel grip. Sofiya wanted to fight out of spit but instead, she sunk further into his grip.

Not a second later the air was knocked out of her and she fully expected to have made a Sofiya sized imprint in Loki. She sucked in air and coughed, the action causing her entire body to ache. Never having been more relieved to be on solid ground she took just a moment to catch her breath.

She was pushed off his chest as Loki groaned and she could hear him stand even though her eyes had not adjusted in the dark enough to see the action. She had just fallen out of a plane and lived. Loki had just landed on the ground from falling out of said plane and was already standing up. How was he not a pile of slop at this point? Oh yeah - he could have won that fight easily.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor's voice boomed and something about the way it echoed scared her. Her eyes finally having adjusted to the dark, she took a look around. Mountain. Cliff. Holy shit.

"Aw, I missed you too," Loki's voice rolled over the edge of the mountain.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood." The tension between the two men was tangible. Sofiya needed to get on her feet.

"You should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the allfather have to conjure to get you here, your precious Earth." She managed to make it to her knees.

Something wrung through the air and she looked to see that Thor had dropped his hammer and charged Loki, grabbing his lapels. If anyone could actually manage to physically hurt Loki, it was probably his brother. She was fine with that.

"I thought you dead." Sofiya froze for a moment, how could her luck have gotten any worse. Not only had she just fallen out of the sky but now she found herself in the middle of a private family conversation.

"Did you morn?" Loki reached a new level of sick in her mind.

"We all did, our father..."

"Your father." She wanted to hide under a rock. Now it was awkward tension, the worst type. "He did tell you my true parentage did he not?"

"We were raised together. We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Desperation dripped from Thor's voice. Damn, why couldn't she have been abducted by the nice brother?

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I who was and should be king," and she thought she had family issues.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Earth is under my protection Loki."

"And you're doing a marvelous job with that, the humans slaughter themselves in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them." There was too much happening and she was still too winded to devote her thoughts to the conversation taking place.

"You think yourself above them."

"Why yes." Sofiya chuckled at his simple words.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling brother the throne would suit you ill."

"I have seen worlds you have never known about. I have grown, Odin's son. In my exile, I have seen the true power of the tesseract. And when I wield it-"

"Who showed you this power, who controls the would be king?" So that was what she had been right about, he was working under someone else.

"I am a king."

"Not here, you give up the Tesseract, you give up this poisonous dream, you come home."

"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I have sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well brother-" A flash and Thor was gone. Suddenly finding herself alone with Loki, the last several minutes caught up with her and she could feel her emotions saturating.

Loki went to open his mouth to say something but he closed it as he looked upon Sofiya. He was caught off guard by her golden gaze and also the slightest bit intrigued by it. Her anger was noticeable in her set jaw and tensed eyes.

"You dragged me off a jet while it was in the sky." The gold in her eyes swirled around like liquid gold as she gave him her fiercest glare. He matched her fierceness with his own. Pushing herself off the rock she had been leaning against, Sofiya took a step closer to Loki.

"You are still alive, are you not?" She should be thankful, he had considered that her frail human body would not have done so good if he had not braced her during the impact. She had felt more than five times her actual weight as she slammed into him, sandwiching him between the ground.

"So you don't see anything wrong with what you just did?" He watched as she aggressively placed her hands on her waist as she glowered up at him.

"Darling,-"

"No, don't darling me. I'm done with your bullshit, I did not want any of this, you obviously did not want any of this," she motioned between them, "to happen either. Give me a break and leave me out of this family drama. I am tired of just being some human insurance policy and information bank and whatever else you use me as."

"Sofiya," He needed to teach this human a lesson from interrupting him. He had given her too much slack already.

"Shut up and sit down. We will wait here until they come to retrieve us." Loki chuckled and looked down for a moment before looking back up to pierce her eyes with the full force of his authority. No one told him what to do, much less a human. Right before his eyes, in response to the challenge in his eyes no doubt, her skin started to brighten vibrantly. Slowly as it got brighter a golden tinge was evident. In any other circumstances, he would be amazed. The color even glowed through her clothing and seemed to pulse ever so slightly with her heart. If he focused hard enough he could just make out regions across her skin that flashed a green glow every so often.

She did not even care if she had pushed too far this time.

"And what makes you think I will listen to you?" He pushed her instead of punishing her immediately because he was intrigued by what her magic would do next.

"You, ughhh!" She yelled throwing her hands up in the air and saw an ignition of gold that followed.

"You, a human, think you can tell me what to do." Her magic seemed to be festering, waiting to be unleashed. His hands took on a green hue to them but he was holding back. She was untrained, and unskilled, more likely to blow herself up than to actually harm him. He would play around with her, push and pull some before he finally disciplined her.

Her left hand grew ever so brighter and he readied his shields an instant before there was a golden orb flying his way. Loki did not even flinch as the orb aimed his way, his shield caught it and he watched as the golden whips evaporated away.

Cursorily, the fact that he had defended himself from the blast seemed to upset the human. Her lips pursed tighter as she gave him a look that surely would have put a lesser man on edge. Her emotional reaction gave her away and he was already ready for her next few blows.

He observed the orbs. It took months of practice, and that was for the lucky ones, to be able to produce any type of material magic. And her orbs were not that of a newbies either, though they still showed how much of an amateur she was. The magic was compact but not nearly enough, he could see through some parts of the melon-sized blast.

His attention was drawn back to the human as she let out an exasperated sigh. He had to purposely dial down his smile to a one corned grin as he watched her frustration grow. Loki was barely putting any energy forth and she was doing the best she could. He watched as her brow furrowed and he examined her body looking for hints at her next attack.

He had yet to see how creative she could get with attacks. Loki was having a little fun, more than he had suspected to have during his time on Earth. He could wait a moment more before he attacked her.

He felt a mental tug but she was fast, the little minx managed to almost daze his thoughts as she pulled on his thoughts like a vacuum. In the moment that she had distracted him, an energy ball hit him in the chest. It struck with enough force that he took a step back with one foot, but he was uninjured and his suit unsinged.

In an instant, he dematerialized and then materialized again right behind her grabbing her wrist. She fought against him and her hands started to warm, he effortlessly absorbed her magic and she stopped projecting it immediately. She was learning, he would have to make sure his tricks were done with more gentleness in the future.

She was still for a moment and then she dropped all her weight, he easily supported her but he had to adjust his hold in order not to break her shoulders. He kept a tight hold though. Sofiya screamed and stomped on his foot but it did nothing. He was amused by her efforts as she once again tried to get lose by smacking her energy into him but he was ready this time.

"Sofiya," he whispered her name through gritted teeth into her ear. Even though his lips were millimeters away from her skin he still felt the buzz of her magic on his lips. His voice wavered as he whispered her name. He would show her, he readied just the right about of magic to not do permanent harm before he sent it her way.

Loki heard her breath falter and felt her tense against his hands. He was not expecting her to echo his magic with her combined magic and hit him. His teeth clenched and he let go of her wrist out of an effort not to crumble her bones.

"I don't want to kill you." Loki almost laughed at the words coming out of her lips.

"Darling do not worry, you could never." He watched baffled as the feisty women turned shy before his eyes. The anger must have dissolved out of her, or else she was scheming something. Her arm came from behind her and one of his own daggers was lunging his own way, he deflected it with a wave of his hands. She must have grabbed for it when she sent the combined force fo their magic his ay and he had been distracted.

"You stop and then I will." She took aim at his face as he aimed for her, she threw up a wall of gold. It slowed the assault but did not stop it, the blow landed on her thigh and she fell to the ground. The smell of singed skin filled the air and hopefully, her feisty spirit was wilted a little.

"Stay down," Loki ordered and of course, Sofiya did the opposite.

"Fuck you." She sent several blasts his way and he realized she would likely get gravely injured if he continued the fight. It was not over by any means, he was going to have to break her slowly, but it would be worth the wait. He stood taller at just the thought of her bowing before him on her own free will.

"Fine we will continue this later, after all you can not submit to me if you are dead," Loki whispered into her mind. Sofiya let out a breath as she fell back to the ground and gritted her teeth. Sofiya tried to get up one more time but was unable to do.

Loki appeared at her side while she was inspecting the wound. He had done more damage than he had thought. Her human body was weak. He debated what to do. If he left her like this he would likely never see her again, they would surely keep her away. Even though he could play mind games with her it would not be the same. No, he was not done playing yet.

"I am going to heal it," Loki bent down and made a move to cover her wound with his hand.

"No." The defiance in her eyes would soon die out if he had anything to do with it.

"We do not want them asking questions remember." He placed his hand on her thigh and she sucked in a breath of smoky air. He was not particularly good at healing but she was human, her tissues flimsier than the Asgardians he had tried to heal before.

"It seems you found a way to control your pent up magic," He looked up from the wound to her face and saw the way she looked at his hand. She was trying to figure out how he was doing it, so she could try.

"Your voice is annoying."

"Tsk, tsk, temper, temper."

"Can you heal the scar on my back?" The question was more out of a wonderment than actually asking him to heal the scar but he decided he might as well.

"Asking things of someone you just tried to kill?" He watched as she looked at the fresh skin after he lifted his hand up from her thigh. Sofiya fingered the new skin before looking back up at him. He made a motion with his finger signaling her to turn around.

Her dress had seen better and there was dirt on her back. He wiped it away with a wave before taking the fabric of the dipped back dress and pulled it away enough to get access to the scar. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at it. He was curious about her healing speed, curious of all the things he had passed to her.

Loki pulled the low back of the dress even lower so he could place his hand on the healed wound. His hands were warm against her skin, his magic flowing into her. Hand lingering on her back, he wondered if there were other ways to break her spirit.

"Your spirit is strong for someone so inferior." For once she kept her mouth shut. He trailed his hand ever so slowly up her spine, "But you are so fragile, so vulnerable." Her shoulders relaxed on their own against her will. Loki's hand ghosted up the side of her neck stopping just short of her jaw.

"I could end your life so easily." He was lost in thought for a moment and she tried to fight the feelings that were raging inside her. Her anger had melted into content and dare she say longing as his hands warmed her body in the cold night. One touch was all it took to warm her whole body.

"I would like to offer you a specific position in the new world I am making." The hand on her neck, the moment … she stepped away offended.

"No, I will not be your personal bed doll."

He laughed, "I do not wish to bed you, I would break you. It already takes considerable effort for me to touch you without snapping you. I simply thought you would like a position with slightly more freedom than the others. Something to fit your fiery spirit."

"I'll die before I let you take over Earth." He nodded and looked to the sky as she heard the jet through the raging storm.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey peeps, here is another chapter, I cut it in half of what it was supposed to be when I saw how long it was. I had planned to get this out a week ago but with the Hurricane on the East coast USA where I am… So I decided that I would further neglect my homework and edit this! Reviews are always welcome, it helps me keep a check on my characterization and plots and make sure I am writing stuff people actually want to read. :)

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The rest of the jet ride was spent in silence. Once they had managed to get everyone calmed down the atmosphere was plagued with emotions. Loki was no longer paying attention to her as he was now concerned with his brother that, by the looks of it, was sitting uncomfortably close to Loki.

"Brother, I am happy that you are alive." Thor turned to look at Loki and Loki's response was to stare straight ahead.

Thor tried again, "Loki, where did you find refuge for all that time?" Sofiya watched Loki closely, there was almost no sign of him having heard Thor. His breathing froze for a moment as if he was trying to get a hold on his thoughts or emotions.

"Why are you being like this?" Thor's tone had an edge to it. The blond god was bothered that his brother was not answering, it seemed like they might have had a better relationship at one point.

Thor turned his attention to Sofiya and she was struck by just how opposite they were. The blond brother was less regal, his movements made on instinct and not calculated like Loki's. Thor had an air of innocence, he looked like he had seen less life than Loki had. Loki's eyes showed a hardness that she imagined was bought by many adverse trials. What had happened between the time he was assumed dead and his appearance on Earth?

"You are Sofiya?" She nodded and Thor's smile brightened.

"It always amazes me how many wonderful women Earth has!" Sofiya eyed him up, he did not appear to be flirting, just expressing a fact. She risked a glance at Loki and saw no reaction.

"You come here often?" She lifted an eyebrow at him, out of the corner of her eye she saw Loki lick his lips before going back to his unresponsive state.

"Not as much as I would like, the Bifrost, what I use to travel realms, is being rebuilt."

"Ah."

"I see you and my brother had a scuffle while I was occupied," Thor motioned to the hole in her dress, Sofiya's breath caught in her throat. "I would notice my brothers magic's marks anywhere, after all, I have had many of them myself." Thor's grin said the brothers had battled out of fun and not anger. Loki's attention slowly moved to Sofiya's face and she avoided looking at him. She was going to have to lie.

"I had it before I was so kindly pulled into a free fall."

"Hum, I do not remember seeing it while I was conversing with my brother, but my focus was otherwise occupied." Was it an Asgardian thing to be over observant?

There was a feeling of something against her mind. " _No, it is a trait of a warrior._ "

" _So, now you choose to talk._ " She replied to Loki as she smiled at Thor.

"Are you sure I need not apologize for some misbehavior on my brothers part." Thor smiled with teeth this time and her jaw almost dropped. He looked the advertisement to a Prince Charming movie. Why were Asgardians so … so charismatic?

" _You think I am charismatic, I am humbled._ "

" _Get out._ "

"No, he kept his hands to himself." Thor did not bother to question her answer as he carried on the conversation, though there was a flinch to Loki's lips.

"I am interested to hear how you came to know my brother." Thor was eagerly awaiting her answer.

"He abducted me."

"Loki Odinson-" The change in Thor's attitude was instantaneous as he turned to chastise his brother.

"Laufeyson." Loki's voice came out strong as he corrected his brother without looking at him.

"Brother, please." Thor's whole body turned to face Loki and his face took on a look of desperation. After a moment Thor turned back to face her, looking a little dejected.

"My brother seems to have fallen down a dark path, I am truly sorry for any torment he caused you. If there is anything I can do for you to make up for it, I will." Thor's statement shocked her, then she caught on to his words. Loki had fallen down a dark path. So there was a point where Loki perhaps had the manors of his brother.

"He has not always been like this?" It was probably not a good idea for her to push Loki's buttons by getting information out of Thor right in front of him. Especially after she had attacked him.

It also occurred to her that Thor was naive in a sense that Loki was not. Sure, both of them had faced things she never had and never would but something about Loki - if he had seen several lifetimes of struggles and his brother only one. Something had happened in Lokis time away from his brother, something that had changed him on some fundamental level.

"No, we used to get along merrily, always had each others backs in battle. He was my most trusted friend." Thor seemed to be done with the conversation, lost in his memories.

The silence she was left to was not welcomed. As Sofiya started to process what had happened between her and Loki she had to work to keep the blush off her cheeks. There was a threat of shame at the corner of her mind but she refused to give into it. Yes, it was stupid to go up against him, in fact, she knew she would not win. She had just been done with being used, been done with being treated like an inferior because she was human.

In her calmer more relaxed state of mind it hit her - maybe she should have a serious conversation with him about why he thought humans were inferior. Perhaps she would have more success using a communicative and understanding method with him. The problem would be getting him to listen to her counters on the good things about humans. Biting her lip, Sofiya knew she would have to learn more about his own culture from him in order to successfully sway his opinion on humans.

Sofiya was surprised that they did not land at the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters and when she inquired about why not, she found out it had exploded. Sofiya turned to glare at Loki who was being secured with chains on his ankles, he had the audacity to smirk at her. She made sure to meet his gaze and then look away as if he was not of importance.

As she surveyed the Helicarrier from inside the jet she tried to get a gage on how big it was. Though it was hard to see past the small army they had brought to escort Loki. Loki seemed pleased that he was not being treated like some docile prisoner. She watched as he walked out of the jet, his posture confident and comfortable.

It was Loki's air of ease that made her hesitate as she stepped off the jet. Natasha came to stand beside her and lead her into the flying city.

"We have set up the immediate debriefing you asked for, it should only take a couple hours then you will be shown to your room. Your father asked that you call him as soon as possible." Sofiya saw through Natasha's friendly offered smiles, she was trying to breakdown Sofiya's reaction.

"Thank you."

"I was wondering if you wanted to talk, girl to girl later?"

"That would be great."

"I'm sure you will also want to sleep for a while, you look tired."

"Loki's not an easy person to be around."

"Did he use magic on you?" Ah, she had been listening to her conversation with Thor.

"I attacked him first, he didn't hurt me, it was just a warning."

"You attacked him?" Natasha seemed genuinely surprised.

"Not my proudest moment."

"He does not scare you?"

"No, it's more like, infuriates me. Loki treats humans as if they are his playthings, not actual people."

"Still, you basically attacked a god and lived to tell the tale."

Sofiya was silent for a moment. He really could have killed her, it was probably more work for him not to kill her. And Loki knew she was about to tell them all she knew of his activities. They would be busy following up on the info that she gave them, they would be distracted.

"Could I take that nap first before debriefing?" Sofiya yawned and Natasha laughed.

"Go right ahead, you have earned it. You have shown real bravery these past couple days. Just remember you do have to complete a physical some time in the next couple hours."

They were walking down the hallway in silence when Nat spoke up, "I just wanted to make sure again that you don't have any reasons that you should have a physical before you shower … you will have a female doctor attending to you and I can even do they examination if that is what you are comfortable with?"

"No, it is really okay. Loki didn't really seem to condone that behavior." Something inside her told her to keep quiet about what had happened, well almost happened. She wanted to ask him about it later though.

Nat nodded but gave Sofiya a look. Sofiya was surprised when she was taken to her own room. It was like a small apartment, even had a small kitchen in it. Normally she would have requested something smaller, she was used to (but would always be uncomfortable with) getting special treatments just because of who her father was. But this was different, she finally had her own space again.

"I'll leave you to it then, I can come by in about three hours and do the debriefing alone with you, instead of having to do it in the questioning room?"

"Sure, that would be great, thanks." Nat gave her one last smile before she closed the door behind her.

It was to silent. After the past couple of days it was unnerving, being alone with no background noise. She tried not to think too much on it as she made her way to the shower. Happy to see that someone had left her a generic t-shirt and jeans as well as a generic set of white underwear, Sofiya took her clothes off and stepped into the shower.

Twenty minutes later and she was hugging her knees on the ground as the hot water burned her back. There was too much to think about and not enough space in her head. Sofiya noticed her skin start to take on a golden hue and stopped her thoughts.

Glad to have the distraction of trying to learn how to control her new set of abilities. Watching her hand she lost her breathe for a moment. She was really glowing, this was really happening to her. After sometime she was finally able to focus enough to concentrate the glow to just her hand. Her teeth were clenched and shoulders tense, holding on for as long as she could, she released the strain her hand had been holding.

A wave of exhaustion hit her and she stood up reaching out, she needed to get out of the shower and into bed. Shaking her head, Sofiya pulled what little strength she had left together. Almost falling back down as the sensation of being thrust under a waterfall flowed through her body, she gasped.

Peppermint filled her senses for just a moment before she felt Loki.

" _Why are you taking my energy?_ " His curious voice in her head brought on a mix of emotions in her.

" _I'm doing no such thing._ " But as Sofiya opened her eyes she could not help but acknowledge how refreshed she felt. Like she had just gotten a full night of rest in seconds.

" _Yes you did, you pulled from my own magic to restore your energy._ " Loki's tone was not accusing but it was more of a statemental tone.

" _That doesn't even make sense horny boy._ " The nickname slipped out before she could filter it from her thoughts. Things were silent for a moment as her hand stilled from picking up her shirt as Sofiya held her breath. She calmed a moment later when she imaginary facepalmed herself. Any other normal person would laugh at the nickname and not send some type of punishing mental shock her way. If Loki overreacted, that was on him.

" _You insult me after I grace you with my life force?_ " Heart beating again she rolled her eyes at his sarcastic dramatic behavior and finished getting dressed.

" _I won't do it again, and if it's such a problem just try and take it back._ " In an instant she was exhausted again and had to grab the bathroom counter to slow her fall. Another instant later and the sensation of a walking under a waterfall flew through her and she sucked in a gulp of air.

" _LOKI._ " Her exclamation was instant and it tugged at her sense of normality as she realized she had instinctually called out mentally and not out loud.

" _What? You tantied it, keep it vexing vixen, I do not want to be surrounded in the smell of weak human._ " His disgusted passed through her thoughts.

" _Vexing vixen?_ " She opened the door to her room and looked to make sure the hallway was clear. Sofiya had about two hours to wander around.

" _Not insulting enough? After all, you did insult my ability to be a king, I shall think of something degrading to call you._ "

" _I insulted your over the top helmet; honestly, you are the most-"_

" _In Asgard, my horns represent my status as able to lead and be king._ " Loki's matter of fact, but not offensive tone caught her off guard and she almost paused in her step. Having a conversation with him was like walking on eggshells and then being hit by a bucket of ice.

" _Well, how the hell am I supposed to know that. And actually, I don't really care. You would make a horrible leader._ "

"Once you submit to me you will see how wrong you are." Sofiya froze, the voice came from behind her. Actually crossing her fingers as she turned around, the air was drained from her as she saw Loki casually leaning against an alcove she had just walked by.

He was loose.

"Oh - do relax darling, it is not time for me to cause havoc yet." Easy for him to say, how was she supposed to calm her heart. Suddenly she regretted the conversation she had just had with him, it was one thing to push boundaries knowing he was locked up.

"Loki-" she began to warn him as she took a step back and then stopped herself. She would accomplish nothing. He would catch her before she could tell anyone, he would stop her easily if she attacked him. "What do you want?" Her response seemed to be the right one.

"I want to see how useful you are." He glanced over her and Sofiya suppressed the impulse to tell him he could go jump off a cliff. It would not even hurt him anyway.

"And, what do I get out of this?" If she was being forced into a corner she wanted to see how much room she had.

"You can ask questions."

"You might not answer them."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, "I still have not determined if you are worth the trouble you cause or not." Crossing her arms she pushed her luck. "Fine vexy, I will answer some of your questions."

"Vexy?"

"Vexing vixon is a mouthful."

"But … vexy? That is the best you can come up with." She saw it in the way his eyes narrowed and his shoulders seemed to broaden. "Fine no need to insult me more. Vexy works, but as long as I get to call you horny."

"That is ludacris."

"Then you can't call me vexy."

"I will call you whatever I please."

"You let me call you horny and I will agree to let you see how useful I am."

Loki blinked. "Fine, but I fully intend on going back on this deal."

"I know. How did you get out?"

"Darling, that is not polite, let us have a seat first" He held the door he was blocking open for her. Sofiya was not moving till she got an answer knowing an answer would never come unless she stood her ground.

"I left an illusion of myself in the cage and I teleported out." He sighed as he motioned with his chin for her to go through the door.

Against her better judgment, she turned her back to him as she walked through the doorway. The room looked to be some type of lounge, standing against a wall crossing her arms she addressed Loki who had taken a seat about ten feet in front of her.

Her shoulders matched his, high and confident. He calmly watched her, his hands and eyes idle as she appraised him. Loki didn't look defeated as someone who was captured usually would, and she realized he never had. Was his ego that big? Or maybe there was something more to it, maybe it was more than pride.

It was clear something major had happened to him. Something with enough impact to change his personality and morals.

When her eyes finally lifted to his, she was just as ready as he was. His gaze was naked, no hiding, no ploys. Bumps rose across her skin in response to the chill that his gaze caused. It hit her - what was different about his gaze, he was looking at her as an equal for the first time. She was not blind to the situation and what he was implying with his eyes.

Loki was supposed to be in a cage, he was a prisoner, an inferior. Yet here he was, moving about as freely as she was. He was insulting her with just one look. And just like that the look was gone, he was her superior again, another insult.

Sofiya had never really played the inferior card before, perhaps she should now. Maybe he would let his guards down? And after their fight, it now made sense to play that card.

Reigning in her gaze she lessened it's firmness as she looked away and then looked back at him. She glanced away again for good measure. Now what was she going to say? It was not in her nature to stand down.

"Ill intentioned demureness suits you not," and just like that he saw through her. Sofiya would have to pull out all the stops if she was going to deceive him.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Her next question took a more direct route as she put her weight against the wall.

"You constantly surprise me, I have to give you that. That fire in you, that spirit that tells you one day you will overcome me, outsmart me. It is comical." There was a flicker of movement from his hands grasp in his lap.

"That's not an answer."

"If I kill you, I will never get the satisfaction of seeing you, willingly, on your on accord, kneel before me."

"That is still not an answer, but I will let it go this time. When it is finally over, when humans win this war you wage, I will not ask you to bow before me. I don't need that satisfaction, it means nothing to me. You are a person, and just like everyone else on this planet, every person in this universe, you are worth the same, equal to all."

Something she had said struck him, he did not let it known in his body language but she felt something stirring on the mental plane. It was a tug and then a gradual relax. So, he had a temper and was just good at controlling it, she tucked that information away for later use.

"I will always beat, always be better than humans, you are weak and vulnerable, your minds made for manipulation. Your emotions weak, your views narrow. What shall I have you do first as my personal human servant? Polish my shoes, my weapons. Ah, no that is not a good idea, but then again once your fire is snuffed out, you will stop fighting me. You will want to serve me."

She was getting closer to finding the reason why he felt humans to be subservient. And Sofiya had a feeling it had less to do with the characteristics of humans and more to do with Loki's past.

"Why do you want me and the other humans to submit to you so bad?" If she listed off things she might get closer by gadging his reactions, "Is it because you feel inferior to your brother and the only way to make up for it is to have an entire world at your feet?"

"My brother and I are equals, if anything I am more superior, I am a king in my own lineage, and I was raised by Odin beside Thor." Sofiya caught the way his mouth sneered at the word "equals."

"Thor does not have an obnoxious helmet that declares him a king, does not seem like he is trying to prove something. Almost as if he already knows he is the next king. And from what I have picked up, Odin never thought of you for the throne, he always knew it would be Thor, his real son." She stood straighter as the force pressing in on her wanted her to back down.

"You only have parts of the story, you know nothing." Something was off, he was leaning forward a little, a challenge, this was getting to him. Loki beckoned her to sit in the chair across from him, "Now, my turn."

As she sat in the chair he indicated Sofiya realized how much of a bad idea this was. No one knew where she was, no one knew she was with Loki. Not letting her anxiety show she matched his gaze and tensed when his eyes narrowed.

The sensation that overwhelmed her was like nothing she had felt before. It was as if Loki had his hand around her heart and was pulling it out of her chest. He blinked and focused on her eyes again, the feeling left her and she gulped in air.

"What are you doing?" Sofiya's hand flew to her chest as she gasp for air.

"Pulling on your magic, and not with the weak effort you pulled on my own magic. I am trying to see if I can take it back from you." The feeling came back and she fought to keep her eyes open. It felt as if it went on for ages but was probably only moments. Finally, he relaxed again and sat back for a moment. He was breathing heavier.

"It appears to be integrated into your life force … and my own." Loki waved his hand and her skin burned gold. Sofiya felt sick like she had been riding the same roller coaster ride on repeat all day. Looking up to him about to ask him to stop, her voice was lost as she saw his eyes. Molten emeralds swirling against a blue sea.

He needed to figure out just how their magic was connected. He could not risk someone using her to get to him, to control him. He still needed to determine if she died, if he would follow.

Loki focused on the gold tethers that surrounded her and pulled them forth, not from her, just out from hiding. She held the capacity for great amounts of magic, but how much did she actually posses? She grew brighter and brighter. Her eyes transformed before his, the human began breathing heavy. He saw beads of sweat form on her brow.

The girl was suffering and yet the glint in her eyes challenged him. Daring him to push her harder.

He pulled again and again, the next pull caught his attention, he felt his own magic being pulled to the surface, interesting. His magic was of a skill that could control when it showed itself and when it hid. He felt the unwelcomed caress of it on his skin against his will, it wanted to play. He pulled again and his magic pulsed before he saw a green pulse in hers.

He could manipulate her magic in an instant if he wanted. It was a part of his own magic, that meant she could learn to do the same thing, given time of course.

Her vision was blurring, the feeling through her veins dangerously intoxicating. Sofiya felt stronger than she ever had. Some part of her was getting greedy wanted to hang on to the sensation but she fought against it. She could barley handle what she had, if she took more, there was no telling how unstable she would become.

Loki blinked and Sofiya collapsed back in her seat taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Okay, break, let me ask something." He nodded, lost in his own thoughts.

"Where were you when Thor thought you to be dead?"

"That, will not be answered."

"Let me piece it together then. You were captured, that much I know. To get your freedom you came here and were to take over Earth, but why Earth? The person who captured you certainly made you feel inferior to him, it was a him, right? How did he get you to comply, why could you not get out yourself? What could he do to make you follow his wish … oh my god."

Everything clicked into place. Loki was being bent against his will, the only thing that could do that was something horrible. Torture in some form or another. Humans found horrific ways to induce pain in others her mind did not even possess the ability to imagine other ways of torture in the universe.

"Do tell, what conclusion have you come to?" He was on the defense but still challenging her. This was a risky game and she knew it. Something this dark and a person this prideful, she was past the point of no return.

"He tortured you."

Sofiya felt a tug. Loki was looking, looking for something to hurt her with. A piece of information he could use against her.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally I am done with this chapter! The last two chapters were the hardest for me but it's all fun and games from here on out!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to darkangelynn5, they are the reason you peeps got this chapter today instead of two weeks from now :)

 _ **Content warning - comic strangling that leads to nothing towards the end of the chapter, violence (that goes for like every chapter though but this one is mildly action packed), in a memory death of someone via car wreck (not graphically depicted though just like a sentence or two)**_

Playlist

Gravity - Leo Stannard x Frances

Jaymes Young - naked

Barcelona - Fall in Love (the theme of a chapter like 15 chapters in the future ;)

Don't Deserve you - Plumb

Matt Maeson - Tribulation (honestly if this is the only song you listen to, it explains Loki so well)

Papa Roach - Periscope

Lewis Capaldi - Grace

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If those three words had left anyone else's mouth, Loki would have killed them without a thought. Something about the way she said those words, the expression her face made as they left her mouth, the thoughts coming through clouds of her mind. There was no pity towards him, almost anger though. Why would she be mad about him being tortured? Why would she care if she was not going to use it against him?

His anger was rising by the second, not just at her but at the whole situation. How had he been so transparent? How had someone in a matter of days put together the pieces when his own brother had not?

It was his instinct to look for something to hold against her to break her down. Sofiya made him feel vulnerable, made all his walls develop cracks. Loki pushed away the whisper at the edge of his mind that for some ungodly reason wanted to let this human off the hook.

"You can't help but play with fire can you?" Loki stood up shoulders tensed, Sofiya stood up shoulders relaxed. He cocked his head to the side, the stupid human was relaxed after invoking his wrath, a testament of her inferiority perhaps.

He reached out to her fragile mind. The ease at which he entered deeper in her thoughts made him grin with bad intentions. It was so easy to follow the strings of her thoughts that held no knots or false routes, none of the diversions or traps like most minds he had been in.

Sentiment, what made him different from those that would one day be under him. If his torture had taught him anything, it was to enforce his mentality that sentiment was weak. Proving this weakness, Loki latched on to her emotional memories following the most vibrant of strings. Strawberry and rose essence drifted through his head, the smell he had come to associate with Sofiya.

Strawberries had been lost to Asgard for years before he left, a disease had spread across the entire population of the refreshing berry before they could do anything. It was almost fitting that this resilient woman would smell of them. Even now she was trying to fight against his intrusion in her mind, but her efforts were so frail that they were virtually undetectable by him. There was now a tightness to the corners of her eyes, he knew he was causing pain.

"Loki, please, stop." Sofiya was breathless and for the first time, her distress did not create a satisfied feeling in him. Loki inflated his chest before he breathed out, it mattered not, he would hurt her nonetheless. Her back to the wall he cocked his head to the side again analyzing her. He saw it in his mind with the smallest of lags before he saw it play out before his eyes. Sofiya's spine connected with the glass behind her like a magnet.

He took precautions though, not wanting her to go through the glass before their play time was over, so he placed a shield between her and the glass. Still no fear in her eyes as he levitated her off her feet by her spine. She was surely planning something. Further proof of this was that he had yet to see that spark of gold in her eyes or touch of gold on her skin.

He stalked forward with determined steps cornering her like prey. It struck him that he needed to be more cautious with her, he cursed in his mind. He should have never even made a move, made a sign that she had gotten to him. He was acting like some novice, he needed to calm down and gain control of his behavior before he left some other unintended hint about his life to Sofiya. It was too late now though.

Just then he found a memory, one he knew he could use against her. Maybe it was out of a need for retaliation that he carried forward. Loki's instincts telling him to challenge her, his brain telling him to be indifferent and just kill her.

"Stop? It is time I finally put you in your place once and for all." Sofiya was helpless, and he was not even using his full strength. He could see her spine fold in on itself; her shoulders flinched but maintained their challenge.

Her heart dropped as Loki uncovered a memory she had long ago hidden. The memory replayed itself across her eyes and then across her senses. It was like she was there again, knowing the future but not able to do anything to prevent it.

There was a screech, and her blood ran cold, a look at the eyes that mirrored her own. Her older brother, the prodigy of the family, the only one who treated her with some decency and understood her. His last expression blank as he reached out to her, the lights from the oncoming car framing his head like a halo growing brighter.

"NO," she was unable to differentiate from the present sob to the past sob. There meaning was the same, she wanted it to stop.

Loki observed her thoughts, the memory was pale in comparison to the violence he had endured. A car, lights, screams. Opening her eyes to see her brother dead in the driver's seat. He felt the sinking of her heart through their connection. He felt the grief strike her and numbly echo through him almost causing Loki to break his composure. He stopped the replay of her memory.

"Touched a nerve did I?" He was so close to her now, the scent of strawberries and roses no longer a flutter across his mind but a tangible whiff of air.

Sofiya knew he was trying to freeze her, show her just how weak her emotions were. He was going to continue until she broke, but she would never break down. Choking back a sob at all the emotions that came rushing forward, Sofiya tried to tune out Loki's voice and come up with a plan. He seemed to notice her withdraw and took another approach.

Loki's hand grabbed Sofiya's wrist and jerked it above her head. He wished for once she was not as weak as she was, he had to be delicate with her, but his intentions were not. He took it as a further test to rouse his anger even though Sofiya had no say in how brittle her human body was.

Gradually Loki applied more pressure seeing how much it would take to hurt her, he waited watching her. Gold sparked underneath her skin as Sofiya pulled her bottom lip under her teeth and tried to hold her voice, a little more pressure and her whimper could not be contained. Loki's own lips lifted and he leaned in further.

"Do you want to know what they did to me? I can show you a little if you want?"

"Are you determined to break me because they broke you?" Witch dared to stand up to him, he tightened his grip and her breath caught, there was a crack as he used his knuckles behind her wrist to press into his own shield and the glass behind her.

"This time, you pushed too far." It irked him that she showed no fear.

"If you're going to break my wrist go ahead and do it, there's no need to drag it out." His other hand found its way to her throat and he sculpted his fingers around it, the feeling of her pulse radiating up his arm, it was slow, strong and even.

"In a rush to die?" His whispered in the shell of her ear before pulling back to look into her eyes again. The wrist under his hand was warming up, the situation causing her magic to show itself.

"You know, now I don't see you as evil. Self-preservation pushes people to do unspeakable things."

"Human sentiment is insulting, I want it not."

Sofiya's lungs seemed to collapse as she fought against him.

If she could take away his power over her. But how to do it? Loki could always physically hurt her. She needed something to blindside him with, that he would never expect from her. Submission. But she had tried that, though it had been false, she needed something that was indisputable. Something mixed with trust perhaps. Loki was already in her thoughts, could get whatever he wanted. She was not as naive to think that she could stop him from getting what he wanted.

Sofiya was not even sure she knew how to do what she was about to attempt.

Against her every instinct, she made herself even more vulnerable in his eyes. She let go of all her secrets and hidden shames. It was uncomfortable and made her soul itch but she did not let that sidetrack her.

Loki froze, then his jaw slackened slightly and his lips parted as he released a breath across her face. She looked up at him towering over her, casting a shadow and leaving her in the dark. Becoming increasingly aware of just how close he was, just how warm his hand was around her wrist.

Her ovaries chose that moment to make a contribution to her thoughts and Sofiya tried to push away the thoughts of attraction directed at Loki. The last thing she needed was for him to sense them. With him so close it was almost impossible. When he spoke, she welcomed his words as a distraction from her raging hormones.

"What game do you think you are playing? I will not be manipulated by you." His eyes narrowed as he searched her own eyes, she saw a hint of green flash behind his irises as a threat, reminding her just how in control he was of his magic. How he could end her life at a moments notice.

"I'm not trying to manipulate you," she caught her breath, "I'm not giving you anything you don't already have, I figured I would save us time." Sofiya shrugged and he dropped his hold on her spine, to position himself even taller than her.

"You should not allow your weakness to fall in the hands of your enemy."

"Are my thoughts a weaknesses?" Loki waited to see what she would say. "Anything that helps me to grow and see things with a new light is a strength. All you are seeing is how I acted and thought at one point, not how I will act and think in the future."

He peered down at her and it was starting to make her uncomfortable. She knew he was debating trusting her. "Maybe it's a human thing, but not everything is about manipulation," she added.

"Living, surviving - it's about getting the upper hand." His voice was firm and she straightened her shoulders even more.

"When all you do is survive, you miss living."

"Don't twist my words." She took a deep breath. He was either going to kill her, or kill her when she opened her mouth.

"Loki, do you want to talk or vent about what happened? I'll keep it just between us, I swear." Sofiya knew he would not comply but she was trying to build trust, or at least build something between them so he would be less inclined to rip her head off.

"You think to hit me while I am down, expose more of my weaknesses to use against me later."

"No -" He cut her off.

"You are weak, you will use me to gain power, gain power over me." His tone towards her was not vile or sneering, it was almost questioning.

"I don't want power over you, I don't want to be superior I want to be your equal. I promise to never use you. Even if you don't want to tell me anything, I still promise to never use you." This changed everything, she was risking everything. It had hit her that this was bigger than her though. If she could not only keep him from killing her but get him to see the absurdity in what he was doing, maybe, just maybe she could stop him from trying to dominate Earth. At least if she could get him to hesitate when it counted the most the Avengers would have a bigger chance at taking him down.

"You would risk humanity for this?"

"You're an equal, your life is worth the same as theirs."

"Vow by it?" He whispered the words in a challenge.

Sofiya shrugged, she ended up dead in all the scenarios anyway.

Loki took a step back and released her wrist in the process, and held his hand out to her. She thought about not taking it, but that would not look well for what she was trying to achieve.

The instant her skin came in contact with his a sensation raced up her arm. Magic. It was like a burn but left no tangible trace. Looking down she saw a mark appear on her skin as if a brand at her wrist.

He looked at her expectantly.

"I vow to never use you." A cold rush washed through her blood.

"I vow to shield and protect your mind from others with manipulative and evil intentions so you can not be used to get to me." That surprised her but she guessed it made sense.

He let go and she took a closer look at her wrist, it was some type of Celtic knot.

"Why do you want to figure this all out, when in the end I am just going to kill you either way, whether it be today or in twenty years?"

"I have hope you won't kill me. You could have let me die already but didn't." He was calmer. Loki eyed her, he was in complete control again and more watchful than ever of his words and actions.

"Don't confuse coincidence with intent. You are one ant in a hill billions strong."

"If you truly think so little of me then why did you make sure harm evaded me?"

"As I recall, I wounded you only hours ago."

"True, but you also healed me. Not to mention you came to my aid when he was going to … you stopped him, you killed him and you could have taken advantage of me then but didn't. If I truly meant nothing to you, you would have let me suffer."

"I have morals, and I want to bring morals back to Earth, the chaos, the rule-breaking is one of the reasons why you need a ruler like me. You are killing and ruining yourselves. As to the latter, that is another thing that makes you inferior, you think to display your strength when it not matters, to waste it."

"That seems to contrast with your way of conquering, by force and fear." He watched her for a moment, she may not have him cornered yet but she was getting his attention. Loki took a step toward her.

"I use force and fear because there is no other option until I have you all under my spell. It is a means to an end."

"So, that's why you protected my head in the fight with Captain America, that's why you made sure I didn't slam first into the ground when you dragged me out of that plane." She took a step closer to him, bringing them almost chest to chest, she had to tilt her head back in order to keep eye contact.

"Why don't I just kill you now."

"But you won't, you won't kill me or let me die. I've gotten hints that you used to be compassionate, I think there is still some of that left." He took hold of her wrist, the same one he had in his hand earlier but his grip this time was different. Loki brought her arm between them, her fingers brushed the fabric of his shirt as they both looked down at her hand.

"Don't take risk that have no rewards." Now both his hands were on hers. One under her hand holding it open, palm up. The other tracing the dark vein from her wrist to her fingertip.

"I'm not really risking anything, it seems like I'll die anyway. You take over, I die. I try to stop you, I die." She tried to bring her wrist back down but his one finger was all it took to have the strength to keep her arm in place. So instead of fighting to get him to let go, she pushed. Curling her fingers around his hand as it traced back down her palm. Sofiya gripped his hand that had gone lax in her grip. Loki finally pulled back, just as her fingers had grasped his palm.

Something drew his attention. Sofiya watched as his eyes went out of focus and Loki took a step back from her. A moment later something struck the ship and she fell back against the glass as the ship tilted to one side. There was a crack and then a hand around her waist as the structure against her back shattered and fell through the sky.

How was he going to leave her? Now that he knew she could take away his energy, she was a problem. He would have to find a way to block it. Though when he thought more on it he should not have been surprised, he could after all take hers.

The fight, if you could even call it that had shown him even more. He recognized several of his own moves, the magic must be acting on instinct. He had no idea what her limits were too controlling it. It seemed to still be connected to his, not totally taking over, leaving a little. Loki could use her, if he could break her, control her, he would have so much more power. Breaking Sofiya might kill her though. Loki was almost sure that he would not die if she did.

That brought up the problem of what he would do if they did battle at some point in the future and she matched him in strength and skill.

"You are going to try to kill me aren't you?"

"I was contemplating it."

"I'm no match for you, but I won't go down without taking others with me." Loki needed to move. He had not completely decided what to do with her so he would just have to take her with him for now.

Grabbing Sofiya, Loki teleported them to his so-called prison on the ship. It was time to go but he had a couple more things he wanted to do.

They arrived in the room holding the glass cell. Loki stepped back from Sofiya and she felt herself lose control over her own body parts as he waved his hand at her.

"Don't want you interfering with things." Loki said simply as he turned from her and then disappeared. Her eyes were drawn to his figure appearing beside a mirror image of himself in the cage just before the mirror image of himself disappeared from existence. Just then a door opened and Sofiya turned to see who was coming in.

"NO!" Thor yelled and Sofiya watched helplessly as Loki tricked his brother. Thor charged toward Loki as the door to the cell opened, Loki crouched down as if to prepare for his brothers tackle and then Thor sailed through the figure of Loki as it faded out of existence. Loki was 'free' and Thor was in the prison.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" A few people had followed close behind Thor as he entered the room, though considering they did nothing to help Thor, she guessed they were on Loki's side.

Thor, in a fit of anger, slammed his hammer against the glass walls of the cell. She held her breath but the glass only cracked slightly, trough the aircraft shook with the force of his blow. Loki was cautious for a moment, not one to underestimate his own brother it appeared. His shoulders relaxed slightly as he walked over to the control panel.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Her attention was drawn to the figure at her side, an agent had snuck in and was holding some type of gun. The agent gave her a nod and made to step in front of her with some type of huge gun like weapon in his hands.

"Move away, please." Loki held his hands in front of his waist and stepped away from the control panel, but closer to the agent.

"You like this?," the agent motioned with the weapon he was holding before continuing, "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

She saw Loki materialize behind the man but Loki had her frozen, there was nothing she could do. Loki impaled the agent with his scepter, Sofiya's silent scream echoed through her head and Loki looked to her for a moment, but his gaze was unseeing, he was focused not on her, he looked away. Everything was happening so fast, she had no time to think about the implications of what Loki had just done.

"Noooo!" Thor yelled as Loki dropped the agent to the ground. She watched helplessly as the agent slumped over, just over a foot in front of her, his breathing was fast and jagged. Loki continued unaffected to the control panel.

Watching as Loki turned his head once more to his brother before he looked down to the panel of buttons, Sofiya looked away from Loki and caught eyes with Thor. The look that he gave her was one of true pity, and yet he was the one that was about to drop through the sky.

"You're gonna lose." The agent's weak voice spoke from his spot on the ground as she could see the life drain out of him. Loki turned and looked at the man, almost as if debating if it was worth replying to or not.

"Am I?" As Loki spoke, she felt his control over her weaken, he was either losing focus on her or had deemed her not a threat to his plans anymore. She moved her fingers.

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky . . . where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction." The agent was trying to distract Loki himself and she was going to use that to her advantage. Almost there.

"I don't think I . . ."

Finally, she fell forward and then something hit her with so much force Sofiya could not even register the pain. She hit something once then twice as her world spun.

Loki maintained his consciousness even as the human in his lap failed to. He looked at her mangled body. It was his fault she had taken the main blast, he had tried to shield her at the last second but his own shield was fractured and broke apart as he had reacted an instant too late for to be effective.

Her eyes weakly opened as she looked up at him. Loki could see the gold hue taking form on her skin as her magic came to try and save her, even though he knew she had no idea how to use her magic to heal it appeared her magic's own instincts were taking over in an act of self-preservation.

He felt a pull on his own magic it was so slight he almost missed it. Loki inspected it.

Loki stared down in amazement at the women in his arms. Her magic was combing with his without his consent, they were mingling, his magic showing hers how to heal. In any other circumstances, this would be a revolutionary finding, a breakthrough. His fascination with her only grew more. He picked Sofiya up and she made no noise, only opened her eyes once more to look at him. A blink and she had lost consciousness again. The picture was all wrong, she was too strong to be this weak. Loki found himself, against his better judgment, lending her some of his strength.

A scent she associated with Loki drifted consumed her and Sofiya fought on instinct. She was not going to go back into his grasp. The hands under her back and knees tightened for a moment before letting go slightly.

"You will hurt yourself further, stop vexy."

She tried speaking but her throat didn't work.

" _Drop me_ ," Sofiya said in Loki's mind as she pushed at his chest.

" _Relax._ "

" _In your arms? Never._ " She spied a tear in his armor and lunged, skin under her teeth. As she clamped down Sofiya was surprised by how much strength it took to break the skin, even biting her hardest she barely made a mark.

" _Don't make me muzzle you darling._ " He adjusted his hand under her neck and grabbed her shoulder pulling her away as she gasped at the pain. "I don't want to hurt you any more than you already are, stop."

She raised her to hurt shoulder and arm in a motion he was not expecting and she gasped in pain as her hand wrapped around his neck. Biting her tongue in determination until she tasted blood she brought her knee around and to better grip his waist. Using the grip of her knees around him as leverage, she tightened her grip so she could properly strangle him.

Her vision blurry, her muscles started to relax and she felt him not just in her mind, but in her body. "No." Loki commanded.

Fighting her own muscles took what little strength she had away, but it also gave her an idea. She screamed mentally, a sound that echoed in both there heads and she felt him tense, taking the distraction she rolled off him and out of his arms.

Pulling from deep within herself she gave it everything she had. There would be no later if she didn't, her skin started to vibrate and a force awakened in her. It wanted out. Something was trying to cage in her mind, her powers. She used the pressure build up, retreating further in herself allowing the cage to become more constricting until she exploded outward.

"Stop it Sofiya."

" _Just try and make me._ " using the wall to help her stand up she stood against him. The adrenaline rush from her fight or flight instinct the only reason she was able to ignore the pain in order to stand.

" _I will only give you one warning._ " The magic had a mind of its own. Giving in she pushed forward and felt more than saw the field around her. He tried to blast at her legs but she manipulated it back at him.

" _I do adore brawling with you, but you can't handle this right now._ " Loki was pulling her magic at the same time he was suffocating her mind.

" _No._ " She pushed harder, not even aware of the choices she was making. So tired - but she could not give up. Her vision changed people dying because of her but it had his scent all over it. She closed her eyes and searched out for him. He was creating an illusion trying to gain an upper hand, but he had already used this trick once on her and it wasn't going to work again. Feeling Loki walking closer, she sent a blast and hunched over, there was nothing left.

" _You will surrender._ "

" _I would rather die first._ "

" _I am a god, you will listen to me._ "

" _My vibrator is a god; however, you are not._ "

He looked confused for a moment and she felt prodding in her mind and then the last thing she expected happened. Loki chuckled. It wasn't a dark chuckle, just a normal chuckle. His teeth showed through his grin for a moment before he had it under control again. That was the last thing she saw before a pair of arms caught her and she slipped into unconsciousness again.

Sofiya woke up in familiar bed, the problem was, it wasn't hers. As soon as she opened her eyes she regretted it, daggers stabbed her head repeatedly. It felt like a skyscraper had fallen on her body.

"Ah, you are awake. Now you can get out of my bed." It took her a moment but she managed to focus on Loki as he approached the bedside. He looked comfortable and confident. It frustrated her that he had come out of that basically unscratched and she was in such bad condition.

Sofiya tried to speak but was in too much pain.

"It hurts too much to move."

"Seems I overestimated your healing ability." She closed her eyes to pretend she was not with him. Was he incapable of giver her a little slack?

"If you're going to be an asshole, then leave."

"This is my room."

"Fine as soon as I can walk, I will leave.

"Then I better help your healing."

"Don't touch me." She was in too much pain, not wanting anything to make it worse she tried to angle herself away but it only brought on a wave excruciating pain.

"Don't be a troublesome vexy, you think I want to touch you?"

"Fine."

Loki came to sit on the side of the bed, even that caused her pain. "I need to do some diagnostics first to see what is injured."

Sofiya watched as Loki placed his hand on her stomach. Not only was his hand glowing green but her skin under his touch was gold.

"Your magic is on edge." Loki did not look up to her face as he talked.

"Why do you speak of it like it has a mind of its own?"

"Because it does." She looked back down to where his hand touched her as he closed his eyes. It was weird, she could almost feel him inside of her, looking around, a tingle followed his invisible reach. Sofiya looked back up at him. He was calm, with no effort doing something she once thought impossible.

His hand slide up an inch and she looked back down. It was hard to imagine those hands could bring about as much destruction as they could healing. Her magic could do the same, she hoped to never cause any destruction with it, no suffering, only use it for good.

The tips of his fingers fanned out once they reached her sternum.

"It seems your bones do not heal as fast as soft tissue." The tingle was transformed into warmth, like someone was pouring warm water into her body. Her pain started to go away, it was only a little but she let out a sigh, soon she would be able to breathe without a problem.

His hand was spanning her entire chest, and it came to her that he could end her life with one push. Never truly thinking about just how strong Loki was, it was easy to just think him of average human strength since he didn't have bulging muscles or anything. But she had seen him in action.

Loki's hand moved up more and his fingertips brushed the underside of her breast. Her eyes went to his closed ones. Even his eyelashes were godlike. Sofiya had only seen the men of Asgard and never wanted to see the women, they were probably perfect and horrible for her self-esteem.

Starting to tense she realized the next slide up-

"Relax, I can feel you tensing, it makes it harder to heal."

"You're about to be holding my boobs, how am I not supposed to be stressing?"

His intense eyes pierced hers. The green was not as vibrant as she had seen it before, but it was not calm either. He was using so little power to do this.

"I will not go about holding your breast," the look he gave her was one of incredulousness. Loki pulled his fingers back together and slide up another inch. "See."

"You try having someone's hand on your balls that could snap you in half without even trying."

"That makes no sense. My hand is on your chest."

"Between my boobs, same vulnerability genius."

"Humans are curious things." He slid his hands up one more inch and the corner of his mouth lifted. "Looks like your will won't submit to me, but your body has other ideas."

"What are you talking about?" If her nipples - , she was mortified. The last thing he needed was more of a reason to feel good about himself. Sofiya became increasingly aware of his hand.

"Your glow is spreading based on where I touch not where I am healing you," he looked up at her eyes, "Your eyes are gold and your pupils are dilated."

"They are not!" The other side of his mouth lifted up and he shook his head as he looked down at his hand, now completely under her shirt. She didn't know whether to trust his words or not. The grin etched on his face said she shouldn't, but her heavy heartbeats said he was right.

"Just get it over with." Sofiya groaned and closed her eyes but that made it worse, she was more aware than ever of his touch and the warmth that spread from it.

Opening her eyes as he took his hand from under her shirt and placed his palm where her collarbones met, his fingers spanning from her shoulder to her neck. This was the most vulnerable position she had ever been with him in. Her breathing picked up. Her eyes darted down to his hand and traveled up his arm to his face where he had his lips rolled together in an effort not to grin. His eyes had a devious glaze over them.

He was enjoying this, holding the power to kill her in his hands.

"You asshole," she breathed in disbelief. Loki could turn any situation into an insulting powerplay. She grabbed his wrist and pushed away, pain in her shoulder and her own wrist as she pulled his hand from her neck and went to sit up on her knees so she could be taller than him. As soon as she was up and about half a head taller than him the pain in her hip made her stomach clench and she collapsed.

The wrist her hand was wrapped around grabbed her upper waist as she fell back. His other hand effortlessly maneuvered her lower legs onto his lap. She wanted to smack the smug look right off his face. But she needed him to heal her shoulder and wrist first in order to not end up looking oh so much weaker.

He said nothing as he released his lips to grin and lifted his eyebrow at her. She glared at him as she let go of his wrist.

His hand trailed down to her hip.

"That is unnecessary, you could have picked up your hand and put it on my hip instead of making a dramatic show of sliding it." Cocking his head to the side Loki maintained eye contact with her, sliding his fingers under the elastic of her underwear at her hip.

"Do you make a habit of abusing any power you are given?" She clenched her good fist for a moment.

"Anything to make you uncomfortable or frustrated."

"Oh, you wanna see frustrated. Wait until you are behind bars and I'm on the outside of them sneering in at you."

"Will never happen." He was so assured everything would go his way, she would have been intimidated if she was not pissed off. He was so relaxed as he pushed her around. Lashing out in anger would get her nothing. Sofiya would have to wait, wait until he was not expecting it and strike.

Forcing herself to relax she waited till he was done. He seemed to be encouraged to irk her more as she relaxed. Every so often his hands tightening for just a moment as he finished healing an area. His lingering fingers and that damn smirk. She focused on her breathing.

Finally, he was done.

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Reviews help alot especially if you peeps want updates during the school year when I don't have a lot of time :)


	8. Chapter 8

Content warning: Things get kind of dark here as we see a glimpse into the hate and vulnerability in Loki's mind.

This chapter has only received one read through and I usually do at least three but it was either one read through or no update for a couple weeks. I will properly edit it in Dec. The last month of the semester is upon me so unless I procrastinate - no more updates till mid december but I plan on posting a chapter or two a week for the two and half weeks I have off in Dec.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS

This chapter is dedicated to ahandley, DaydreaminPanda, and especially darkangelynn5!

I would love more reviews! They motivate me to write and make me happy!

Power over me - Dermot Kennedy

Kingdom Fall - Claire Wyndham

Guilty - Melf

Youngblood - 5 seconds of summer

Tangled up - Parade of lights

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Loki stood and looked at her expectantly, she peered back at him. The feeling of being healed almost instantaneously, there was something wrong and unsettling about it. As she moved her muscles, there was a ghostly pain where there once had been real pain. Slowly Sofiya used her abdominal muscles to pull herself up into a sitting position with her weight centered on her hips before she finally looked around.

Observing the decor it was clear Loki cared not about the adornment of the place, just that his furniture was there. The cream pink walls a clashing contrast with the dark of his own possessions. Noticing the intricate crown molding it was clear Loki had chosen a place of opulence.

Anxiety knotted in her stomach as Sofiya's mind began to go to different places concerning how Loki had acquired this space. It was possible he had found an empty house that was for sale or something. But the familiar homey-lived in the smell was evidence against this.

Her eyes catching Loki's she almost looked away but met his stare head on. Green eyes addressed her as if she was the only interesting thing in miles, a curiosity clear in the slight tilt of his head.

A bloody scepter flashed through her mind, her heart speeding up in reaction. A question formed on her lips but Sofiya held back a moment. Did she really want to know the answer? Her shoulders twitched as she tried to accept the memory instead of pushing it away, that wouldn't do her any good. She needed to accept her reality if she was going to come out of this with her mind intact.

"Where are the people that own this house?" Sofiya's voice just as steady as Loki's eyes.

"I do not think you really want to know the answer to that." Curiosity was gone for a moment replaced with an emotionless curve of his lip.

"You killed them." Surprising even herself with her bluntness her eyes widened a moment as and Loki gave an amused huff.

"Yes." One word giving so much information about him, no denial, no emotion.

He had not even tried to deny it or talk his way out of admittance. Sofiya's emotions stirred at his one-word answer that lacked emotion. The first being one of anguish. Someone, or maybe even a family, had been executed all because Loki wanted to use this house for the foreseeable future. Their lives had been cut unexpectedly short - no she stopped her train of thought. Feeling remorse and sorrow for them would not help, she was living in a war zone and didn't have the comfort of digesting the situation.

Next, there was anger directed towards Loki. How could he be so inconsiderate of something as special as a life? Did it not bother or mean anything to him to take a life? Obviously not, but she could still not rationalize his own normalized reaction to the behavior. Numbness filled her lungs, not for her or the possible family that had just been killed, but for him.

She did not care what type of creature he was, it was not normal to just kill without reason. Loki's state of anesthesia towards the situation was not an instinctual reaction but something that had been created. What the hell had he been through during torture? Static filler her chest cavity for a moment as she thought about the type of people that could and would do that to someone.

"Loki," Sofiya had no plans of any words to construct her sentence she just wanted to reach out to him. Knowing human sentiment was more like an insult to him she was at a loose but could not just stand by and do or say nothing. At the same time, she did not want to do anymore damage than already had been done to him.

Twenty-four hours ago she would have lost her shit and gone off on him for doing something like this, now though? She was at a loss. His actions showed just how broken he was no matter how intact his appearance seemed. Though she was all about open communication and it was not in her nature to let something stew when both parties could avoid any emotional stress by just voicing their thoughts Sofiya still recognized that this was not the time to address certain things. Loki watched her and she felt the sudden not too uncomfortable intrusion of his mind on hers. Without panicking she silenced her thoughts.

"Trying to keep secrets?," Loki asked and started to reach mentally.

Sofiya shook her head, "Don't, you won't like what you see."

Something in her voice stopped him, she sounded ... no it was not tired .. he was unable to put his finger on her exact tone, but nonetheless it halted his intrusion.

Looking away from the human for a moment he processed his own reaction. It was natural for him to want to push the matter because his curiosity had been piqued yet he had pushed down the instinct. His own actions were not clear to himself. For now, he would write it off as a hesitation to get into a fight with her given her recent wounded state. The unsettled voice in his head telling him that had never stopped him before.

"If you do take over Earth, do you plan to bring more Asgardians or anyone here?" Sofiya fidgeted with the edge of his comforter looking away from him as she asked the question.

Loki dived back into her thoughts trying to follow the strange girl's stream of consciousness. Where had this inquiry come from?

"No." Even though he saw no harm in answering the question Loki should have known better.

"Sounds lonely," glancing up at him once and then drawing her eyes down again before continuing, "being surrounded by inferiors."

"Stop playing games, what are you getting at human?" Regretting the quick retort before it finished leaving his lips, Loki chastised himself. If he was even the least bit transparent, this girl would see straight through him. Sofiya had a way of making him defensive. Superiors exuded confidence, not defensiveness. Feeling his jaw clench for the briefest of moments, he was glad she was looking away and did not pick up on his frustration.

"I thought you liked my challenging nature?" She was leading the conversation and he had to take it back, but in a way that would not show his cards to her.

"Sentiment, it bothers me not." Loki glanced at her and watched as her lips moved to form words and he could tell by the furrow in her brow he would not like her words, so he interrupted, "I realize as an inferior being you are not able to comprehend the level of enlightenment I have reached."

Sofiya had gotten used to his deflection techniques by now. She had been testing the waters, seeing how closed off he was at the moment. Asking about his torture was walking on thin ice, she wanted to discover what they did to him to make him so ... empty. To make him doubt and feel disgusting for having emotions. Something that would catch him off guard, but not in a manipulative way just in a way to try and gauge how bad his imprisonment had been.

"How long were you away?" Her eyes started to drift up to him on their own but Sofiya forced them down. Knowing him, direct eye contact right now would be perceived as a challenge in his own green eyes. The words were chosen with immense consideration. If Loki wanted, he could decide to deflect again, the indirect wording giving him a way out. If he decided this, she would not question further tonight.

On the surface, she acknowledged her actions were to try and get him to change or just doubt his world domination plan but there was a nagging voice in the back of her head saying her motives were different.

The question caught him off guard and so did his yearning to answer it truthfully which only accentuated how dangerous this girl was. Taking a moment he watched her. Sine relaxed, head down, bottom lip under her teeth, fingers destroying his blanket. On instinct, he sent a shock to her fingers a surprised yelp her response. For a moment he wondered if the shock had been too strong but as her surprised eyes caught his, he saw no pain in them.

The next beat of his stagnant heart pounded a little harder as those cautious eyes cornered him. Hurriedly, she looked back down. Head tilting to the side, Loki picked up on what she was doing. She was truly asking, not challenging. Of course, his guard went up and alarms started to sound in his head, it was a trick, Sofiya was trying to manipulate him. The silence stretched until her chest expanded and she let out a string of words in a mumbled rush.

"I should not have asked that, go ahead zap me again." His eyes narrowed, her toes lifted off the ground and as she scrunched her toes in discomfort perhaps.

"Longer than the longest human life." At the last syllable, he snapped his mouth shut. Later he could examine his response, but a tripwire had been tripped. He was coming, and for the first time, Loki found himself questioning how he was supposed to act around the human in another presence.

"Enough," Loki's voice breathed ice over her skin, something was wrong. Sofiya may not know him that well but in their short time together she had learned to read his almost nonexistent behavioral cues. He touched her mind and then she felt him encircle it, it was comforting, like a jacket on a chilly day, the aroma of peppermint washed over her and cleared her senses.

Loki was on edge, he rubbed his palm at the base of his pinky finger with his thumb for a moment before he gripped the same hand in a fist and then released it. That was an odd behavior for him. All emotion was lost from his facial muscles and she felt a melted tension start to freeze in him through there bond.

"He is coming. Don't say a word or you may lose your life. Think bland thoughts, he can't know." Without question, Sofiya knew Loki was talking about the messed up bond they now shared but that was the last of her concerns as a bracing feeling enveloped her body. She was about to meet the thing that had turned Loki into this sentiment hating being. The one who had either done it himself or told others to torture Loki passed his limited - to the point that it changed him on a fundamental level.

This was serious, all mischief aside Loki might not kill her and she might push her limits with him, but the person that was coming could very well kill her in an instant.

Frozen in her spot on the bed she watched as a figure started to materialize a couple feet in front of Loki. The first thing she noticed was the blue skin that stretched across well-used muscles. His jaw was pronounced and matched the rest of his features. Yet, for some reason, he still held this ironic innocent teddy bear look in his expression.

His posture was almost inviting. There was no way to tell how evil he was from looking at his form which made him even more dangerous. Loki bowed to the man and Sofiya sat still in shock.

"Loki," he answered in acknowledgment before turning his head to focus on her. She had to work to keep her breathe from stopping as her eyes landed on him and suppress the emotions that swept through her. His voice was low and confident but still inviting.

It hit her that he was the ultimate predator, she had once thought Loki looked at her as if she was prey but this man, he looked over her as if she was optional prey.

"And who are you, young lady?" First impression was that he did not share the same hate of humans as Loki did, or he was just better at hiding it. Loki was silent in her mind and it ran through hers to lie but she did not.

"Sofiya." He did not introduce himself to her just smiled and nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to Loki. Reading the vibe he was giving off she blushed as it suddenly hit her. It looked like she was providing Loki assistance in bed. Fighting of the denial before it could form she bite her lip and looked down shyly playing along. Loki was indifferent.

Her senses changed in an instant. By the smell on her tongue, she knew it to be Loki's doing. He had fully submerged her in a virtual illusion. The supple mattress under her transitioning to a non-pliant rock. Blue overwhelmed her sight as the sun reflected off the lake stretched out in front of her. The air was crisp and refreshing, even though she knew it was an illusion her brain was not getting the message. The attention to detail was so much that Sofiya could feel the humidity coating her skin, feel the heat of the sun on her right shoulder and cheek.

Reminding herself she was still in the room with the two men she kept her thoughts from wandering in any direction that would cause any questions and just observed her surroundings.

The lake shook and the sun dimed for a moment, her mind went to Loki on its own accord as the shield around her mind got tighter. Keeping her calm, Sofiya waited wondering what she would see when reality came back into focus.

The illusion began to fade and her world shifted as Loki's figure bent over his collapsed knees on the ground stole her focus. A staggered breath from him made her exhale hers. Halting the instinct to run to his side she looked around.

"Is he gone?," she asked aloud. Loki let out a groan that she took as an affirmative, cautiously she approached Loki. Out of all the damage his body had taken in her presence nothing had so much as knocked the wind out of him. Now before her was a crippled man in a growing pool of blood. Sinking to her own knees beside him she tried to better assess his state. On reflex, he moved the shoulder closest to her forward sheiling his himself from her eyes.

A hand on his back, his breath faltered and she took her hand away. Not seeing any visible wounds she reached out again but this time to the hand clutching his chest. Getting no reaction from him as her skin touched his she bent forward to try and get a better look. Blood was coming from his cuffs then she noticed something at the collar of his shirt and her heart froze.

There were wounds under his shirt. Had he put his shirt back on before freeing her senses or had the purple man managed to inflict injury without a weapon?

Loki did not fight heer as she eased his outer coat off letting her discover more blood. He was pliable under her hands. Next went his shirt and she was surprised he was letting her do this. No physical or mental protest, what had happened?

As she rolled his shirt off his stomach what she saw made her own stomach curl. A vast array of different gashes and cuts, some as small as papercuts others more like stab wounds and yet still more like swipes of a sword going deeper than she wanted to explore.

"Well fuck." She was at a loss of words, a loose of actions. Her hands were covered in blood as she just held them there, his shirt finally off. "How fast can you heal these?"

Finally, he looked up at her and Sofiya saw the struggle in his eyes the demons trying to drown him.

"Already healing but it's not that simple." His voice was strong and she felt some relief at that.

"Is there anything I can do." Her hands were now making indecisive movements in the air above his wounds, it seemed all but his face and hands were safe from cuts.

"Just leave."

"Oh my god, put your male pride aside. You might as well be fucking bleeding to death, I'm not going to just get up and walk away." Suddenly angry at him for being so difficult in a potentially time-sensitive situation, she forced her nerves to calm down after the outburst.

"Sofiya," this time his voice betrayed his exhaustion, she helped him into a more comfortable position and sat down legs crossed in front of him. Her hands wanted to do something, anything to help him.

They sat in silence as she watched him, his breathing abnormal. He gathered the strength to raise his head and looked at her for a moment. So much in that gaze, too much to read in the split second his attention was on her before it was gone.

Feeling helpless she sighed as she watched the cuts begin to heal themselves, it was a slow process but it was steady. Some of the more significant wounds just closed but the internal damage was still there, when it looked like most of the skin was closed she got up and found some washcloths in the bathroom that connected to the bedroom.

Sitting back down in front of him with a small bowl of warm water and some soon to be stained white clothes Sofiya knew not where to begin.

Loki pulled away from her touch as she reached out. Reaching out again her hand caught his. Moving slowly she began softly wiping the blood off making her way up his arm. Her actions revealed scars that looked old. She kept uncovering more and more, with each scar her heart dropped a little more. Her gut twisted.

"These aren't normal wounds are they." Voice so soft it was barely audible.

Loki didn't answer and she let it go for the moment. His eyes turned to watch her pick up the second cloth and drag it across his shoulder.

There was something in the air, the tension could be cut with a knife. Coming from her side the air was more awkward but his was tense, guarded and still dominating.

"Why did he do it?" Again she was met with silence as she looked up to meet his eyes, she watched for a moment as he observed the movements of her hands.

Giving up on verbal communication she reached out to him in a different way. His presence was oddly calm as he slowly drifted towards her. He was locked down. What if this had caused some type of PTSD reaction? Sofiya would have smacked herself if she did not think it would startle him, of course, something this drastic had. The revelation changed the direction of her one-sided conversation with him.

" _Thank you for letting me be here._ " Still no answer. Her heart shattered in a million pieces. Based on what of his character she had witnessed he would not willingly let her see him like this, in this state of weakness or as he might say, inferiority. But it only proved he had not just been broken but his spirit was still in pieces.

Normally she would have given a hug at this point but the person that faced her now - the effect of his torture clear - she wondered if it would do more damage than good.

Considering she had already cleaned the blood off and he appeared unworried by that she tentatively reached out and rested her hand on the top of his wrist. There was no reaction, his behavior unchanging. This might take a while.

She became increasingly aware of the new tattoo that was present on her inner wrist and looked at his wrist to see if there was a mark there. She pulled his wrist over and he turned it the rest of the way allowing her to look. It seemed like he was just stuck in his own thoughts. But from what she was witnessing those thoughts could be very, very dark.

She touched his wrist in the same spot where here mark was, but he lacked one. A moment later one started to appear. She wondered what the hell a vow was about and how it would hold her accountable.

Making any type of binding promise to Loki had been a bad idea but she had had to do it. Would he manipulate her? Most definitely. For a moment she let her mind drift from the current situation.

Loki was paralyzed, frozen in his own thoughts. To show weakness was the one thing he hated most, the thing he hated most in other people. Not because it was a weakness but because he was ashamed of the weakness he had shown to Thanos. When he saw weakness reflected in others, it reminded him of the hate he had for himself.

All it took was a moment in Thanos's presence and he could be forced to his knees with no way to fight back. It had never been under him to grovel or kiss ass in order to get his way but that did not work with Thanos.

Thanos made him feel vulnerable in a way he had never felt before, never wanted to feel again. There was no such thing as personal space, no such thing as off limits. Then there was the fear that Loki himself has been brainwashed with the mind stone while he was being tortured.

Were his morals even his own? His aspirations and beliefs truly his own? Loki had lived his whole life as a pawn, being used even from a child as a symbol of Odin's power and achievement. Hope had made him weak, hope that he could rule the throne of Asgaard.

That hope had led him to imagine a time when even his brother would bow to him, not being forced but because he justly recognized Loki as his king. He would lead conquest and help keep order in the nine realms and expand their reach to more realms. Loki would be responsible for bringing about a new age.

It had all been a lie though. Every dream sprouted from hope had never been real. He was left with a feeling of numbness, there was nothing left and then he had fallen in Thanos's clutch and Loki truly discovered what it meant to be lost.

His hope had been broken, he had nothing to live for. He was at his most vulnerable and Thanos had used that against him.

The physical torture and experimentation - tearing him apart just enough that he would stay alive, over and over. That was livable, the cuts and bruises would heal. But it had been the mental torture that had undone Loki.

Every emotion was twisted until there was nothing good attached to any of them. Even the love he had for his mother had been abused and deformed. Memories were changed until he no longer knew what was reality and what was false. Love was morphed to hate, every motive questioned. Every friendship torn apart. Sentiment - the weakness that was his undoing.

There was a touch at his wrist, soft, asking for permission not demanding. He felt the vow embedded in his skin tingle trying to get free of the illusion he had placed over it, itching to be close to its counterpart, to declare itself. He looked up to the person responsible.

Sofiya sat across from him on the floor. There were rags of blood and he had been stripped of shirt and coat. His skin almost all stitched back together. A reminder that as long as he kept up the facade, he would be good, he would be alive.

It struck him to throw an illusion over his scars. They had come out against his will. The magic that was still inside his body, that kept him tethered at all times, no matter where in the universe Loki was Thanos could tear him open.

What was he without that teether though? He wanted to live but knew not how to live for himself anymore. No longer strong enough to uphold his own will to live. Sofiya blinked and he forced himself out of the void of self-deprecating thoughts. He released the mark and the tingle felt satisfied.

Loki observed her, lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes held the shadow of his own torment and a surge went through him. He wanted to keep her from those evil thoughts of his, he wanted to keep her from feeling what he felt. She was so pure, so accepting.

Was it selfish and twisted to use her but not want her to use him? That was all he knew though, he only knew how to use because he had only been used. But when he looked at Sofiya, he saw clarity.

There was something about her that called him back every time he turned. He kept coming back to her addicting presence. There were no expectations from her of him, she gave him chance after chance and even when he behaved in an uncivil manner, she held it not against him in her next glance.

Yes, Sofiya was so much weaker than him in every way imaginable, every physical and mental way conceivable. But there was something in her that made her stronger than him, something she let off to those in the air around her. He wanted to keep that safe. A tingle flooded his veins, he could feel every single one of them, feel the stretch and recoil as his blood flowed through.

But she had taken care of his wounds, even with futile efforts and yet she did not look upon him as he was weak. Her eyes still held concerned for him, even after all he had done. He felt a pull towards that concern. A shock to his heart and the moment was over, he could not allow himself this. Thanos would use it against him, against her and that could never happen, he could and would never allow it. Thinking of a human as something more than human was despicable. So selfish of him.

Sofiya's thoughts on Loki again she looked up and saw him watching her. There was a change in his eyes and she knew he was no longer lost in his own mind. Looking back down again she saw a mark that was identical to her own on his wrist, absentmindedly she traced it and then recoiled not knowing if something so intimate would trigger him. But as she looked back up she saw the contentedness and wonder gone from his eyes to be replaced with stoicism. Sighing she pulled her hand away from his against her will.

He got up, no sign of the trauma his body had gone through in the movement of his muscles. A twitch and he was clothed. Without an explanation, he walked towards the bathroom and she was left in more confusion.

Loki's attitude of normality toward the current situation making inforced how normal torture had become apart of his life. The fact that he could just walk away after being torn apart pulled at her heart.

"I'm gonna go make a snack." The silence struck her and she was suddenly uncomfortable talking to herself alone in the room with traces of Loki everywhere her eyes landed. A tether found itself around her ankle but it was no longer annoyingly uncomfortable as before, more of a remainder and she wondered briefly if she tested it, would it break?

The last few days had been life-changing for her and Sofiya wanted a break, a break from it all. But how could she neglect to see the house, the unknown memories of the family that had lived here before Loki had killed them? She felt just as much heartache for the murdered family as she did for Loki. There was something in her that said she needed to blame Loki, turn against him. Something society had tried to enforce on her own thoughts own morals and beliefs but Sofiya shook it off.

Having seen first hand from her father and mothers political lives how they viewed people made her detest the view of superiority and inferiority within her own people. Everyone's actions had a cause, and the cause was never in one's own hands, but others. Just like the idea of right and wrong was in others views and imposed on the society.

This was not to say that she viewed murders, terrorist and thieves as in the right. No, Sofiya saw their reactions as a result of their situation and life. She did not believe it was human nature to tear each other apart. Children so kind and loving they had to be taught to not like strangers and to hate out of fear.

As a child, she had been taught this and it was not until Sofiya was older that she saw through the campaigning and preemptive manipulation of her family that it was a lack of understanding that caused fear.

Too much, she did not want to think anymore, wanted to get lost in the action of doing something. The hunger in her stomach driving her to find the kitchen and to go through the cabinets and fridge until she found food. Deciding on making eggs and pancakes from scratch she set to work gathering supplies. Letting herself getting lost in the mixing and measuring of a recipe she had made thousands of times.

It was not until she was pouring the batter that she got an idea. Turning off the heat Sofiya's enthusiasm faltered as she suddenly felt at a loss. Maybe this would work better with her holding the handle or should she hold the bottom of the pan? Grabbing the handle, Sofiya took a deep breath and tried to focus imaging the pan getting hot from magic flowing through her arm to the pan.

Her yell echoed off the tiles as a golden ball of fire exploded in the pan. All she had wanted to do was see if she could speed it up not fucking light the house on fire. What the hell were the rules for magical fires? Would water put them out, would it make it worse? Could they be smothered? Was it like greek fire and needed to be put out with vinegar?

Hands scrambling everywhere not really committing to any action because of fear it would make the situation worse. Her eyes grew as the flames licked up the wall behind the stove. She sent out a distressed mental plea and suddenly Loki appeared at her side. Her eyes went to his face trying to see if he was mad. The neutral expression across his shadowed features contrasted with her panic-stricken one.

She watched impatiently as he calmly took in a lung full of air before he put his hands on her waist and swiveled her to his right. The ceiling was on fire at this point.

"Do something!"

"Relax, babysitting you is a full-time job it appears. Can you not be left alone for more than a few minutes without ruining something?" There was no trace of what he had just experienced in his voice. Even in the current situation, she was still worried about him.

It then hit her that his hair was wet and there were still droplets of water on his chest. His naked chest. Had he teleported straight from the shower? Thank god he had put pants on at least. She had wanted to watch how he put the fire out in case she found herself in this situation again but Sofiya was distracted by the scars that battered his arms and torso.

"Fucking cucumber balls," Sofiya breathed under her breath as she took in his scars under better lighting, every inch of his skin was marred.

"Excuse me?" Loki asked incredulously as he looked down at her from putting out the fire.

She reached out against her better judgment and touched his skin. Sofiya jerked her hand away though, the air around them had changed and something about Loki was off. His expression was distant as he looked down at her but his body language was alert.

"More than you can handle?" He lifted his eyebrow at her and she sucked in the corner of her lip for a moment before answering.

"No, I jerked away because I thought you might kill me for touching you in that such way." She chose to air on the side of honesty since he was being relatively open instead of shutting her down at the moment.

"I don't bite." As soon as his words registered in her mind Sofiya propped a hand on her hip and used her other finger to point at him as she looked up at him from under her furrowed brows.

"Don't bite my fucking ass. We both know that you do."

"Fine, I won't bite for the foreseeable future." Loki suggestively eyed her finger for a moment before returning his gaze to meet hers, Sofiya tucked her finger away.

"I have known you long enough not to trust anything you say." Even as she said the words her hands let into the itch to touch the scars. There were so many of them, all different types too. Tracing a particularly large and jagged one that led from under his left pec to several inches above his belly button she laughed.

Before her laugh, Loki had been in the middle on an inhale but upon her noise, Loki exhaled and held it.

Sofiya looked up at him curious that he had even reacted. The reaction meant he was interested in her response to his maimed skin, yet it still didn't mean that he cared of what she actually thought. What should she worry about him being offended about her laugh? Still the urge to voice why she had laughed plucked at her tongue.

"I wasn't amused by the scars, I was amused by the fact you have a belly button."

"Are your thoughts always so pointless?" Loki asked but a devious smile was creeping onto his lips. She was slowly learning how to translate his actions into normal actions of communication.

"Legend is you're a god, a belly button seems like something a lesser creation would have?"

"For the first time in centuries, I find myself not able to keep up with the conversation."

"Whatever, it does not matter it was just a stupid thought." Her fingers had wandered to his right arm where a section of razor blade sized scares were nestled. She wanted to continue her exploration but her curiosity beginning to be sated, she realized exactly what she was doing.

As soon as Sofiya withdrew her hand he crossed his arms. Interesting. His shoulders were still high but she saw through the action, he was trying to guard himself.

"Can I trust you not to obliterate the Earth if I leave you alone?"

"No." Loki chuckled at her blunt honesty.

"How have you managed to stay alive so far?"

"I have my ways." He rolled his eyes and let his arms relax to his sides as he gave her a pointed look and walked away.

Sofiya's breath was taken from her body, thoughts evaporated as she took in the ornate and delicate inked lines. Vines strong as steel wove their way across his shoulders and down his spine framing a set of daggers on his shoulder blades. A ferocious-looking head of some foreign creature emerged from the vines to face its twin at the mirror of his spine where his neck met his back.

Another path of vines led to a circle at Loki's lower back and encased an array of symbols - well defined but elegantly cluttered in the space. Sofiya wanted a better look but he escaped her view as he walked away. Where had that massive tattoo been earlier when she was wiping the blood from his back? Granted she was not as observant as him but damn, how could she have missed that?

She nodded even though she was all alone, he must have used some type of illusion to cover it up. A question struck her and she reached out.

" _Your tattoo, it looks older than your scars and yet it looks like it lies on top of them?"_

" _They are done with magic, no physical way to distort or erase them._ " His tone was factual, lacking personal emotion.

Sofiya left him alone as she got to work making her second batch of pancakes, this time deciding to forgo using magic. After setting up a spot on the counter she lifted a bite to her mouth when the vibrations of a door slamming caused the food to fall from the fork. Sighing Sofiya prepared for the unknown.

The sound of several pairs of approaching boots had her looking for an escape. Before she could get down from the stool serval men entered the room, and Loki appeared walking through her planned path of escape at the only other entrance to the kitchen. There was always the windows, right? All she wanted to do was eat in peace.

Assessing the men Sofiya took in their badass complexion. Only one of the five men acknowledged her with a glance, and not a friendly one. They all looked like some type of Navy Seals that could break her neck without a second thought.

"Well?" Loki asked in a demanding nature.

"We have people on standby ready to hack and scramble any forces that oppose us."

"And what is this I hear about you?" Loki's gaze peered at a single man, it was the gaze he had given her once or twice before. She saw the fear in the man's eyes as he shed his badass facade. Loki looked taller as he took a step towards the man - all his attention on him.

"I was not prepared, sir."

"Your Highness," Loki corrected. Sofiya crossed her arms and actively worked to keep her expression neutral as she wanted to snap at Loki for being an asshole.

"Sorry, your highness." The man's eyes dropped to the ground. His six something frame looking smaller as he hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself look as small as possible.

"You know what I do to incompetent people." The threat in Loki's voice sending horrible images through her mind.

"Please, she ambushed us."

"Unacceptable, you must always be prepared." Loki would make a good boy scout, wait maybe not. She saw his move in her mind before he made it. Her stool clattering to the ground as she stood up in an instant stretching out her hand to Loki the newly familiar prickle of heat traveling down her arm.

Loki was just as fast, if not faster. He had one hand directed at her and one hand directed at the man in front of him, who still captured his gaze.

" _No! Don't do that! He doesn't deserve to die!_ " Sofiya exclaimed in his thoughts, the one way she could still reach him as she watched the man fall to his knees and grab at his throat.

" _You need to learn that you have no say._ " Loki glanced back at her with hard eyes. She had to do something.

Doing the first thing that came to her mind Sofiya took a running leap and jumped on Loki's back. At least she could give the man a chance to escape.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey people! It has been so long! I missed writing so much! Anyway here is an update! As always reviews are very very welcomed. I would also love any feedback you have about the story so far or characters etc.

PS just noticed grammerly has been correcting women/woman wrong. I will go through and fix it within the next couple days.

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Loki did not even budge as Sofiya jumped on his shoulders. It was not until her arms were wrapped around his neck, legs wrapped around his lower back that it struck her just how close she was to him again. This time he was not lost in his mind though and somehow changed everything. Sofiya used one of her arms woven around his neck and pulled as hard as she could, legs gripping around his stomach for leverage. A hand warm with magic grabbed her arm from around his neck and pulled her grip loose, a moment later she was spinning. The breath was knocked out of her as she found herself with her back to the wall and chest to Loki chest, legs still wrapped around him.

At first, he said nothing to her. It was no surprise she had defied him, even though her life would possibly pay the toll. Stilling the reflex to sigh, Loki looked into her eyes noticing the spark of gold edging out from around her pupils. His breath combined with hers and he was drawn to the scent of strawberries as he forgot about the human men watching.

It was the smell of home from long ago before the wool had been pulled from his eyes and the lies of his existence came to light. Her arm that he was gripping went slack between them but he did not let it fall from his grasp; instead, he brought it to up to the wall beside her head as he leaned in, other hand pressing her hip bone into the wall.

It was one thing to stand up to Loki when they were facing each other with space between them; however, it was another thing altogether when she was wrapped around him at eye level. Feeling the pulse of his magic around her wrist she had to actively keep from gulping. Defiantly she leveled her eyes with him, his stirred with magic and she could see the anger in his face.

The bone under his thumb was at his mercy, one more hair of strength and he could break it. Her chest expanded as his did. Loki sent a shock to her wrist where he held her, her jaw clenched and Loki felt a pulse of magic against his own palm. There was something about the way she always met him challenge for challenge that had his blood run faster.

Sofiya lowered her eyelashes in a feign of innocence and Loki braced himself as he smirked at her. " _I win, you spare them._ " Her voice smoothly whispered across the link to his mind.

" _As you wish_." He should have let go in that instant and taken a step back, but he held Sofiya for an extra moment. Even threw their clothes, Loki could feel as her magic pulsed and watched as her skin began to take on a glow.

Attention drawn to the human man the moment Loki heard metal sliding against leather. No human-made gun would harm him, but the human was taking aim at Sofiya, not at Loki. If Loki had been any less experienced, he might not have been able to spread and encircle Sofiya in his own personal shield in time.

He felt as his magic encircled the contours of her form right as the bullet hit the side of her head and fell to the ground. Letting out a breath of tension, Loki's veins ran cold. The magic coming from the woman he was holding increased tenfold and it mixed with the shield he had placed around her.

There was a warmth in his stomach from the feeling of their magic playing with each other. But his now icy veins overcame that warmth, he felt his own magic pushing against his skin, making it itch. Taking one breath to calm himself and check one more time to make sure Sofiya was not hit, Loki turned to face the human.

Both emotion and magic flared inside him. A sense of urgency took over his normally calm actions. Without even taking his hands from Sofiya he cocked his head to the side and with the precision of a god - broke every bone in the man's hand. The gun clattered to the floor and with one sway of his head, Loki had sent it flying at the wall.

Loki took delight as the human fell to the ground clutching his hand not making a sound as he looked up at Loki in shock. Letting the full force of his anger sow in his gaze Loki looked at the man on the ground. The other men were still and silent. The women wrapped around him squeezed while she settled her head in the crook of his neck.

"Loki," her voice was soft, breath fanning across his neck adding to the intensity of the sensation of her magic against his skin. She was trying to calm him but her voice and touch only aided in his hunger for blood. Jaw clenched Loki took one hand from Sofiya and reached out toward the human men. The shooter deserved more but Loki wanted to get rid of the threat to Sofiya, so with a flick of his wrist he snapped all their necks at once.

At the sound of necks breaking, Sofiya clenched and stopped breathing for five heartbeats.

"Are they …" Not able to finish the sentence Sofiya lifted her head from Loki's neck but refused to look anywhere else but his eyes. Jaw slackening as she saw the immense anger in his eyes, she would have frozen in panic if she thought it was directed at her. His pupils were dilated and outlined by a dark electric green.

He gave one nod and his hand went to the side of her head where the bullet would have, should have ended her life. Her heart that had just started to calm down took off again. Sofiya needed a moment away from him to think, her thoughts could not focus with him this close and her magic burning her skin. As his hand wove its way through her hair and inspected the side of her head she looked down at herself.

Even threw her shirt she could see the gold glow, stilling the panic that found its way to her mind she tried to calm down. This was the most magic she had felt ever.

"Are you okay?" They were the last words she expected to leave Loki's lips.

"Like you care."

" _I asked did I not darling_?" Of course, at the worst time possible Sofiya's insides started to melt because of the man she was currently clutching. Being pressed up against an Asgardian god was beginning to take its toll in her.

The gesture was so small, but it meant so much. For all Loki tried to prove to Sofiya he had no humanity it was the little things he did that reminded her he was more than the terrible things he had done and continued doing.

For some reason it made her feel like a horrible person when she tried to justify not being disgusted by the fact Loki had just killed several men without a second thought. Sofiya valued every life and he had ended so many in just the short time he had been on Earth and had plans to end many more. She should hate him for that.

But it was because every life mattered to her that it felt wrong to hate him for that. If she showed Loki hate he would go on to kill more and more but if she showed him compassion perhaps he would learn some himself and not kill as much. Sofiya didn't want to change him, changing people never worked, but helping them see things differently - that worked. Looking back up at Loki she got a good look at his face as he peered at the wall beside her.

Trying not to get distracted by his godly handsome looks she waited for him to look at her. While she was waiting she became aware of the pressure of her magic dissipating, the tingle of peppermint left in its place. In that moment she felt something but she could not be sure what it was. Loki jerked away breaking the contact from them and she was just able to put her feet on the ground in time and steadied herself against the wall behind her.

Touching her made everything more intense, the shields he had put between her mind and his had a mind of their own and at the worst moments chose to let things through. He had made the excuse that her emotions connected to her thoughts were too erratic and that is why he blocked them. The truth was the strength of her emotions scared him.

Loki tried to think back to a time, for he knew there had to be times he had felt emotions so strongly, but even the painful negative emotions Thanos had left in his twisted memories were not as strong as the emotions coming from the women in front of him. Every interaction he had with her he inched closer to her thoughts, her emotions trying to satisfy some unknown hunger of his.

Feeling the wounds open on his chest, Loki tried to clear his mind, he had figured out that it was anything involving non-negative emotions or self-aware thoughts that would trigger the fail-safe Thanos had left him. A heat in his chest wanted to push further while his mind told him the pain was a warning, he should stop.

A dark smirk made its way onto his lips, with nothing but pain in his memories what more did he have to lose? Deep within himself, there was a box trying to open, vibrating with tension and pressure. The numbness in his spine started to thaw, he felt more wounds open.

The weak body in front of him stirred his own strength, own rebellion. Always testing boundaries, just like Sofiya. Loki sucked in air, feeling the crispness of it as his lungs expanded as he accepted what was right in front of him.

This human was helping him remember who he was, how to fight. Although he accepted this he refused to yet delve into the implications. He was starting to care for her. Not as a lover, no, just as dare he say - an equal.

Their physical strength would never be equal. Sofiya's rebellious resilience would not be enough to get her through a battle and for some reason that stirred a fierce emotion in his throat. She had demonstrated she wanted to protect herself, but he also wanted to protect her. Physically, he did not want to hurt her, looking back, he had never wanted to physically hurt her. Yet, he had so easily hurt other humans since his most recent time on Earth. Loki was seeing her as more than a human and … he did not want to fight it.

Since his time in captivity, the memories he had made with Sofiya were his clearest, the ones not as heavily contaminated from Thanos's meddling. Yet there was still a force in him telling him this was wrong and he should think low of himself for forging a friendship (yes, it was a friendship he wanted with this human) with an inferior species.

"Why did you do it?" Loki asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"When you saw me covered in blood on the ground there were so many things you could have done. You could have run for freedom, you could have kicked me while I was down, but yet you stayed."

"You needed help."

"That was stupid, you should have run."

"Did you want me to run?"

"Yes." His tone made her temper rise.

"Fine, I'll run now."

A hand on her wrist stopped her and she looked up at him. His face calm, " _I want you to run, but I am asking you to stay._ "

"Excuse me."

" _Stay._ "

"Are you saying if I wanted to walk out of here right now I could?"

" _I can not bring myself to harm you into submission anymore._ "

She thought about making some sassy comment but decided against it. She wanted to start a fight but there was something in Loki's touch and gaze, she could pull and she knew he would let go, he was choosing to touch her. Not touching her because he had to or to prove a point, simply just because he wanted to touch her. Such a human thing to do.

It crossed her mind that this could be some type of mind game he was trying to play, but she was willing to take a chance knowing she could get hurt. It finally dawned on her what he was saying.

She could run, she could leave and find a way to make contact with the Avengers and help them in whatever way she could. But Sofiya could also stay, the tension she had been holding in her shoulders unraveled. Knowing her answer before she contemplated the choses in front of her, Sofiya stood taller.

He was all alone, lost. Knowing a little of what that felt like Sofiya could not leave him. If she did, she would be just like everyone else that had left and used him. She had no obligation to stand by his side but she would.

"Okay," as she said the word his fingers dropped from her wrist.

Loki let out a breath he knew not he was holding. He was acting completely irrational, he was doing things he wanted to do instead of things he knew he should do. It felt … liberating.

"What now?" She asked looking to him to lead for the next few moments. For the past several days she had looked to ways to catch him off guard and make a move but now she found herself caught off guard.

" _You really should not stay, I might never leave you if you do._ " The cryptic words fluttered across her mind. His tone was almost flirtatious, almost playful.

"Bashfulness. Never expected that from you." Loki did not respond for some time.

"I need to go and check on some final preparations before we head off to battle." A weight hit her chest as she came back to reality, it was easy to forget the circumstances when she was alone with him. She gave a nod and was startled to see him just disappear.

What the fuck had just happened?

Wanting to question every second since Loki had walked into the kitchen, Sofiya made herself calm her mind. Relief washed over her, not for hope of humanity, but for hope of him. Yes, he was broken, but he had not given up yet.

It had not been lost on her that in asking for her to stay he was asking for someone to be there for him. Sofiya felt slightly overwhelmed, she was barely handling herself, how could she do anything for him? Would she end up doing more damage to his tattered soul?

There was no doubt in her mind that if she had chosen to walk out that door, he might not open himself up again. She was over thinking things again, but she let her mind wander as her feet made their way to the room Loki had designated as his own, never one to miss an opportunity to snoop around.

Whenever she was close to him, whenever he crossed her mind a thrill went through her. Though not blind to the fact that she was a young adult and thus the fact that Loki was drop dead gorgeous god probably had something to do with her action, she tried not to let that cloud her judgment.

But damn he was gorgeous, and his touch so soft when he wanted it to be even though she knew he had the strength to easily crush her. Maybe it was because she knew it was impossible that she let herself imagine what could happen.

Sofiya didn't want to be his hero or savior for lack of better words, but she did want to stand by him and be there as he pieced himself back together. There was something alluring about being the person, the women to do that. Just because there was a possibility he may change his opinion on her being inferior, that did no mean there was a possibility of her pursuing any type of dare she think - romantic relationship with him.

It was more than his looks though. He challenged her intellectually and did not push her aside but matched her fierceness in confrontation. There was so much to his mind, she wanted to explore more, ask him questions for days on end. Not to mention what he did to her when she was physically close to him. She had wanted to reach out to him several times and pull him closer, yes he thrilled her body and mind when he was close but the closer he got he sated the same thrill, never entirely though, there was still a trimmer in her heart.

Making it to his room she remembered what had happened last time she tried to go through his stuff and decided to take more precautions. There had been no magical fire this time when she tried to get into his belongings but she was still unable to open anything. Even the covers on his bed refused to move no matter how hard she pulled them, yet they were still malleable against her hands as she pressed into the mattress.

Letting out a grunt of frustration she fell into his bed. She would stay just a moment.

Loki's mind felt the lightest it had since his imprisonment. Still not trusting the woman, still not trusting anyone or anything not even himself or his own thoughts Loki tried to determine what was happening.

Palming the scepter in his hand Loki thought about his actions. There was always that voice in the back of his head saying he should just kill her, she was dangerous and he should not take any risk. But the second he got within arms length of her, the voice lost its appeal. Gritting his teeth Loki looked out over New York.

Yes, this was the place. People bustling below him on the streets oblivious to what was coming in a matter of hours. He knew what he was supposed to do, what he had to do and yet there was still an unmentioned alternative plan buried in his thoughts.

Loki knew people would die, and he was numb to that, he cared not if they lived or died. He cared not if he lived or died, but he would try to survive, it was a primal instinct. One thing he knew for sure was he wanted Sofiya to make it out alive, and for that, he needed to live. This desire for her to remain breathing had even gone as far as leading him to consider marking her.

Loki himself was marked, belonging to the House of Odin. Jaw clenching as the magical ink on his back seemed to burn into him as he focused on it. It bothered him greatly that he was attached to a man that had only ever used him, a reminder that would never go away. Though he could not deny that the mark had come in use several times.

Hands clenched as he thought about subjecting Sofiya to the same unbreakable connection that had been manipulated on to himself. Yet if it insured her life if his were to perish he would gladly swim in his own self-hatred from marking her.

Nowadays marking served more of a political statement than anything, but it had not been that way in the past. In darker times it had made pawns of those loyal to the marker and destined people to a life of servitude.

Loki of course given the present circumstances would not use the mark as a branding of servitude, it bothered him to even think about doing so, his thoughts going back to the seemingly endless years of torture he had been through.

If anyone was to find out it was his mark on her - harm and blame may come her way. His mark was so similar to Thor's though only a handful of people knew the differences. There was no way to be certain that Thor would understand the plan and take responsibility of her, but given his brothers fascination with protecting humans, the chances were good.

A short time later and everything was in place. There was just one person missing. Loki needed to keep his eyes on Sofiya not trusting anyone or anything else to keep her out of harm's way. Sofiya would find a way into trouble no matter what he did to try to keep her out of it.

Searching for her presence he appeared a few feet from her form lying asleep on his bed. Taking a moment to view her in this peaceful state he observed the planes of her face pressed into his pillow. He needed to act before she woke up.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey peeps! The story is speeding up nicely I think. Hopefully I can keep updating at least once a week but this semester that might not be possible. Just do not worry if I do not upload for long than usual. I have not abandoned this story, I promise to never do that to you all.

As always review and thoughts are always welcome. This story does take a lot of time to write and I don't have that much time to begin with so it makes me feel a lot more assured when I know the story is being enjoyed!

Hope you like it. Enjoy -

Playlist

Throw me in the Water - WILD

Echos - Vacant

Echos - Revival

Shaed - trampoline

Syence - Nice Girl

Echos - Gold

Ruelle, Fleurie - Carry you

* * *

Reaching out to touch her shoulder Loki hesitated as his hand was less than an inch from touching her skin. Who was he to hesitate? Who was he in general though? Loki had to calm his welling anger, how he wished Thanos had never even come into existence.

Hating himself more than he hated anything else at the moment Loki felt the weight of a burden on his chest. Here he was sitting beside, for all intents purposes, a child and he was about to drag her into a war that she would probably die or get gravely injured in. Even on Asgard they did not allow those to fight that were not of age or properly trained.

Though he had been the one to drag her into this situation he was starting to regret it. At first he had had no qualms about human lives, he still was not sure he did, but he knew he would be bothered if the woman in front of him ceased existing. Unconsciously he moved the shirt to reveal the skin of Sofiya's shoulder and rested his hand directly onto her skin.

Existing. That one word brought to many emotions into his chest. Loki's mind went back to a time when he had been chained up, his body and mind open to whatever whims Thanos and his minions wanted. A shiver going up his spine as he inadvertently applied too much pressure to her shoulder and the women squirmed.

The pressure he had applied had been so slight but still enough to cause the human discomfort. Loki had only shown less than a sliver of himself to this girl and he was still hurting her, probably had changed her life for the worst. No longer would she be able to blend in but she would forever have a target on her back from the powers she now possessed.

No, he should not mark her just to put another target on her back. It might cause her to be saved in certain instances but in others, it might mean that she was to be used, just like he was.

Something was edging into his mind, trying to crawl its way passed his shields. Loki mentally reached forward to inspect the intruding thought and was not prepared for what he found. Expanding his senses, Loki poked and prodded sensing that the thought had once been owned by none other than himself at one point in time.

Feeling further for any type of manipulation he found that it was a pure thought, but if it was his thought how had it been outside of his own inner shields? Why was it not tucked into their protection?

Inspecting the contents of the memory he saw a trivial scene of he and his brother laughing as they shared a drink. A small warmth surged through him and Loki began to once again question everything. Spending hours and possibly even years searching for one memory that had not been changed by Thanos had all proven unsuccessful. Then why at this moment right now was he suddenly able to find a memory that was not manipulated to his knowledge.

None of the memories Thanos had left in Loki's head were warm and comforting. It had also been outside of his own inner shields - what if it was not a shield he had constructed on his own? Chest expanding with the realization Loki treaded carefully forward as to not alert Thanos to any change in case he was tethered to this shield.

It made sense though, it was easier to produce a shield against memories than it was to change and manipulate every memory. That took much time especially for centuries of memories like Loki had. But how had Thanos managed to keep this shield on Loki's innermost thoughts when he was planets away? It would simply take too much concentration to keep a shield of that magnitude up 24/7.

Unless …

Loki thought to his scepter with the mind stone in it. Thanos might have used the mind stone to make the shield and as long as Loki was somewhat near it, the shield would remain. It also made sense as to why he had not realized the shield was different from his own mental signature. The mind stone had been used to set it up, not Thanos's own mind which would have left his signature on the shield and alert Loki.

The stone was powerful beyond measure, why were his memories trying to get back to him now when he had tried to do this already and been unsuccseful?

Loki's attention was drawn to the gold light that was weakly illuminating from the skin which he touched on Sofiya. Experimentally he drew his hand away and felt as the memory he had been holding on to outside of his shields faded. So did his sense of the shield not being his, reaching out to place his hand skin to skin with her shoulder he once again was able to distinguish between the false shield and his own.

The reaction had to be because of what had happened when the two stones were used against one another. His thoughts had always been about how it had changed Sofiya but what if it had changed his own powers, what if it had not only given them a telepathic link but something more as well?

Something disturbed her light sleep and Sofiya opened her eyes to see Loki sitting beside her pressed against her hip. For a moment her senses became too much, surrounded by the scent of peppermint and woods. Next, she became aware of the warm weight of his hand on the skin of her shoulder.

As her eyes adjusted and she looked up to Loki, the change in his character was clear. The last she had seen of him he was less threatening but as she sat up to get a better look at him, now he looked almost vicious in full battle gear. There was a hardness of his eyes and the lines in his face - jaw relaxed but assertive. It was clear she was gazing upon an experienced warrior, this was the side of Loki that reminded her just how little she was, how different they were.

There was a moment when their eyes meet and the heaviness of the time set in. There was an imminent war and just for a moment, it was just the two of them. The situation almost too intimate for her to be comfortable with Sofiya slowly sat up the rest of the way as they maintained eye contact.

"Is it too late to ask you not to do this one more time?" Her voice was rough from sleep. Loki remained unmoved for a moment before he stood up and turned his back to her. No answer.

When he turned to look at her once more, his eyes were focused.

"It is time." He motioned for her to stand up and take his hand.

"We're going to teleport?" The fear in her voice was evident.

"Yes."

"Can't we just drive?" The woman pleaded.

"We are about to face bloodshed and death and you are worried about teleporting?"

"As of late I have learned to worry about one thing at a time." Loki just shook his head and emphasized his hand out to her by beckoning her with his fingertips.

"What are the potential dangers of teleporting? Like can my arm be left here when we leave?"

"There are no dangers, I am experienced enough to know the contours of your body as to not leave any part of it behind." The statement was matter of fact, but her reception of his words was not.

"Wow, how much time do you spend thinking about me naked Mr. Horny?" Wiggling her eyebrows Sofiya stood up from the bed but still did not take his outstretched hand.

"Only when I changed your outfit in Germany. It was necessary to properly conform the dress to your figure." He was curious as to how she would take the fact that he had had to think of her naked once, even though it had caused him no reaction.

"I feel my privacy has been invaded?" She asked unsurely.

"I just used your own memories to construct a plausible blueprint."

"The fact that you have only seen me naked through my own eyes and not yours is supposed to comfort me?" Loki sighed at her answer.

"It was purely professional, there was nothing sexual about or taken from it." He could not believe that he was having this conversation with her now and that he was even amusing her curiosity instead of just ignoring her.

"Well, that just offends me more. The first man who sees me naked does not even think my body is worth a second thought." Loki would have thought she was just jesting with him but the way her shoulders lowered half an inch alerted him to the fact that she was being truthful. For some reason, he wanted to pacify her thoughts.

"You are human." Loki stated as the reasoning made perfect sense to himself. Why was she offended by this?

"And you're a man. I thought boobs were enough to get any man interested, human or not." At mentioning this he watched as Sofiya moved her hands up to cover her breast for a moment and looked down at them, then shrugged with pursed lips before dropping her hands.

"If they had been of an Asgardian woman, then yes. I am sure you are a mouthwatering specimen to any human male." Words leaving his lips Loki gave her a once over. Sofiya's figure was almost perfect, the only thing wrong was that her curves echoed how young she was. The swell of her hips not yet as full as they would be even in a years time.

As Loki appraised Sofiya's figure he realized what he had said, he might be tempted to find an Asgardian woman attractive, but he himself was not even Asgardian - his argument was mute.

Sofiya's glare made him check to make sure his shoulders were high. Rolling her eyes in a condescending way she gave up on him and took his hand. There was a moment of calm before her stomach dropped and she instinctively tried to get closer to Loki.

Feeling like she was being pulled in every direction, the experience was more chaotic than she had anticipated. The only thing that held her from being ripped from Loki was her hand in his. Suddenly she had a doubt as to whether or not he would be able to keep hold of her, but then it was over.

Breathe being ripped from her lungs as she looked out over the New York from dozens of stories above, her hair was swirled around her face as a gust hit her from behind. The wind much stronger at her current position she was almost pushed off the edge but Loki pulled her back with a jerk before he let go of her hand.

"You asshole! You teleported to the edge of a skyscraper on purpose!"

Loki found it peculiar that he kept doing things to infuriate this woman, he was wasting much energy on something so obscure. But he was unable to stop himself, something shot through his bloodstream every time she turned to look at him with such passion, even vested in anger.

Letting go of her hand had gone against his better instinct. He knew there was a chance his thoughts might become muddled with the influence of the mind stone if he lost contact with her, that was only another reason on his long list to keep Sofiya close to him. Something primal in him wanted to make sure she was locked in a tower far from the danger of war but he knew any efforts to keep her away would be futile. The human had a way of getting herself into trouble and her curiosity would probably lead to her demise one day though he swore it would not be today.

Loki opted not to give her any type of battle gear in order to make her seem less threatening and to not draw attention to her, he was holding off on giving her a weapon though, waiting till the last possible second. Maybe being here with him was more dangerous.

Filling his lungs with air Loki assessed his own mindset. He had not been on the battlefield since before his captivity and although he liked to think himself above any repercussions of his torture he would not be the mastermind he was unless he thought about everything that could go wrong and a way to get around it.

What if he froze at some point, killing had not been a problem for him so far but those had been isolated situations. How would he fair with weapons clashing and people screaming? Would any of the images bring him back to his time in chains? Loki needed to be stable minded, not just for his own survival or Sofiya's, but to go through with the plan he had set out with. The plan he dared not bring into a readable thought.

And it was precisely because of that that there were so many holes in his plan. The logistics relied too heavily on outside parties for him to be comfortable. There was an urge in his muscles to reach out to the women in front of him. Bringing his attention back to the present Sofiya seemed to be taking his silence well to say the least.

There was a spark of gold under her skin and he sighed. No way would he be able to hide her abilities from his enemy if she kept doing that.

"You need to center your thoughts." Loki motioned to her glow and which seemed to only further infuriate the vixen.

"Don't tell me what to do." She snapped and Loki just eyed her with a blank stare.

Sofiya's emotions were all over the place between her frustration at Loki and the adrenaline starting to pump through her system from the impending war. She had no idea how much longer she had in peace before things erupted. To be honest, she had no idea what to expect and her heart pounded in her chest because of that. Feeling the magic bubbling beneath her skin - and knew he was right, she should get ahold of herself.

His face was expressionless and held high as Loki wore his helmet proudly. The thing had to weigh a ton but there was no hint of that in his posture. She wished she could read the thoughts that his expression was hiding and then suddenly realized she might just be able to do exactly that.

The action coming to her more naturally than it had at first as she pushed forward toward him with her mind and followed the invisible cord that connected them. She felt as she entered into his mind but could tell she was still not close enough to sense anything from him. Loki's eyes were unwavering from hers and she cared not that he knew what she was trying to do, her intentions were not of a violating nature but they were selfish. Resistance grew against her efforts but it was not from him actively pushing back, no, that felt different.

Loki let her passed shield after shield wondering just how far she could go now that she seemed to have a better grasp of telepathy. The women's knowledge of the logistics of how telepathy worked were even lower than that of an average citizen on Asgard. Curious about just how the stones linked them he waited patiently, her progress into his mind slowing.

If his theory was correct - he refused to think it was but it would be stupid to ignore the implications of the mind stone manipulating his own shields to the whims of Thanos. She seemed to have hit a barrier she could not pass and he observed the concentration in her eyes that was purely centered on himself.

Experimentally he pushed his innermost shield outward passed shields until he felt the strong presence Sofiya. With an exhale she managed to get through it and then through the shield behind it and another before what was happening caught up with Loki. Alarm bells went off in his head and he pulled the inner shield back into place and her progression came to a halt.

Proud of how far she had managed to get into his mind Sofiya took a moment to take in the thoughts around her, there was also a hint of emotions that were not of her own. One look and she knew these thoughts were mundane but they still fascinated her. Approaching a thought she was shocked as suddenly her vision of Loki standing in front of her was transformed into a city line of gold.

" _This is Asgard._ " The fact he had not called it his home was not lost on her. Suddenly she felt something twist and there Loki was, standing beside her in the memory. Looking wide-eyed from him to the landscape of gold her excitement grew.

The architecture was what she would consider very modern with hard lines mixed with soft arches, it was breathtaking.

" _This is … is this what you see when you look at others memories._ " Eyes on him again she saw as he thoughtfully nodded.

" _When is this memory from?_ " A raised eyebrow from Loki and she knew she was not going to get any info about the context of the memory. Suddenly Loki cocked his head.

" _You need to come back to the physical world._ " She tried to shake her head and clear her vision but her attempt failed.

" _How?_ "

" _I do not have time to teach you. Therefore, this is going to be uncomfortable for both of us._ "

Brain suddenly feeling like it was being suctioned into a vacuum Sofiya grabbed her head and yelped. The air around her changed and she opened her eyes to a pounding in her head but she was back in the skies of New York. After a moment her senses balanced and she was able to pick up on a buzzing.

Looking up she saw Ironman floating above her and looking at the roof some 20 feet above.

Sofiya felt as a wave of energy rock through her making her feel jittery for a second as an explosion from the roof sounded echoing across New York City. There was a churning in her stomach, this was it, this was the start, no going back now. And here she was standing with Loki.

Whose side was she fighting on now, the lines had become so blurred. She wanted to be standing with the Avengers but she needed to be standing with Loki. Hoping there was more than a chance that he could still do the right thing, or at least make things better.

The cards had been put on the table though, everything was starting. By all means she should give up on him and step over to the Avengers. Deep down she knew she would never give up on him and the gravity of that hit her.

Her stance made no logical sense - even to her. They had only known each other a short time and there was so much about him she did not know but at the same time there was so much about him that she did know. If she left his side there would not be anyone standing with him, only using him.

Always feeling like a pawn in her own father's political schemes she attributed that to her reason behind wanting to not turn against Loki.

Not wanting to see anyone else die, much less innocent humans, Sofiya's heart skipped a beat. Death for some was invertible and she wanted to put these lives at equal with Loki's, her morals were all tangled and she did not have time to process them as suddenly there was a clank and she saw Stark land on a walkway on the other side of the platform.

She watched as his suit was deconstructed by some type of moving arch that followed his every step until Stark was void of metal. Stark had only spared her one glance that looked to be assessing her condition before his full attention was drawn to the threat at hand, Loki.

Following as Loki took steps to the building entrance closest to keep up with where Stark was going, Sofiya shadowed him. Loki opened the door without a second thought and without even touching it, looking back once to make sure that Sofiya had made it through the doorway before he turned back around. She heard the door close behind her.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." The impact of Loki's words surprised her as she looked between the men. Was he saying there was still hope to change his mind from war to a less bloody outcome? Sofiya veered from walking in Loki's shadow to stand between the men by the floor to ceiling glass windows that overlooked New York.

"Uh- actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

"You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage." What was he thinking standing up against Loki without any armor on, even if this was a diversion to gain time for some part of a plan to be kicked into action Stark was being stupid. "You've got the uh- blue stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything." There was something elegant in the way that Loki was conversing with Stark, elegant but deadly.

"No, no, no- threatening. No drink?" Stark no stood behind a bar with his hands out of view and Loki stopped his advancement for a moment.

"You sure? I'm having one." Stifling a chuckle Sofiya almost shook her head if she would have thought it would not have drawn any attention to her. The tension in the air was high and here Stark was acting like it was any other everyday situation.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" Heart sinking for a moment before it sped up again. If his army was coming whether or not he told them to that meant he was not leading them, just a pawn in the game, he might just change sides.

"The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"Yes, I have met them."

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the Demi-God; A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Watching as Stark walked to the center of the room to come face to face with Loki, Sofiya's blood pressure rose at the anticipation for how Loki would take this challenge.

"Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army." Loki still seemed confident.

"We have a Hulk." Stark did have a point.

"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

"Yeah- you're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. 'Cause if we can't protect the earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." The finality in Stark's statement made Sofiya uneasy.

He was right, there was no way that Loki was going to make it out of this without ending up a prisoner once again. Loki would have known this though, so what was his mischievous mind planning? Her mind went to a dark place as she realized death could be his end game, the one way he would be free. That did not make sense though.

Loki was now standing toe to toe with Stark.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they are so busy fighting you?" Raising the scepter from his side, Loki positioned the tip against where Stark's heart was, the blue orb grew brighter.

"This usually works." Loki admitted as Sofiya waited to see a change in Stark, but none came. This must have been what he had done to the others back at headquarters.

"Well, performance issues. You know?" A flash of movement and Loki had Stark by the throat and was throwing him across the room.

"Jarvis, anytime now." Stalking to Stark Loki picked him up once more. Sofiya wanted to step in and intervene but she stayed back. Stark was stronger and smarter than he let on and she knew this, he had to have a plan.

"You will all fall before me."

"Jarvis. Deploy." Sofiya's heart dropped to the floor as Loki easily threw the man through the window less than a foot from her, stumbling backward from the rush of air Sofiya felt a pull at her wrist that steadied her. Almost getting her footing again Sofiya was once again thrown back. This time she made contact with the glass feeling it shatter under her back as something jetted from the other side of the room following Stark's path.

A force pulled her whole body forward with enough momentum to send her stumbling forward and tripping. She landed on Loki who had also fallen to the floor from the force of the flying object. Taking a moment to catch her breath she placed her hands on his chest and stood up, Loki following her.

"Thanks." Loki did not respond but his eyes were drawn to something behind her. Turning to look she saw Stark in his suit floating just outside the window.

"And there's one other person you pissed off! His name is Phil." Stark raised his hand and fired at Loki who was just behind Sofiya, she felt as the searing hot blast nicked her arm, the slight force she had intercepted from the blast enough to send her to her ass again. Landing on the ground she heard Loki land hard behind her.

Head almost turned enough to peer at Loki and make sure he was moving - a wave of energy blasted through her and plastered her to the floor, her head making a grotesque sound as it connected with the floor. Once she opened her eyes again all the hairs on her body stood up as she could just make out a hole in the sky from her position on the floor.

Too dizzy to make out anything else Sofiya tried not to puke as she sat up. A smell of burning flesh was all it took to cause her to lose the battle and she turned to the side just in time to miss her legs as the contents of her stomach deposited themselves on to the floor.

Something pulled at her head and her hair was cleared from her line of sight. The smell of toasted flesh was more intense. Turning her head just as Loki dropped his hand from her hair to her shoulder Sofiya realized the smell was coming from him. All her attention was focused on him as she saw the charred skin on his neck and under his chin.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" As the words passed her lips her hands went up to hover over the marred flesh of the man sitting on his haunches in front of her.

"It will be healed in a few moments time." Just before her eyes Sofiya saw he was telling the truth as the blackened skin was turning a pink shade, healthy skin replacing the roasted skin. The hand that was hovering over his neck was taken into Loki's own hands as he inspected her burns. Now that her attention was on her burns, they started to hurt like a bitch.

Loki's hands took on a green glow as he hoovered them over her wound and the colling feeling was imidate as she watched him heal her own skin. By the time she looked back up to his neck, it looked as if nothing had happened. Next, his hands were in her hair and the pounding in her head dissipated.

"You really should invest in a helmet."

"If my options look anything like yours I think I will refrain from doing so." His hand drifted from the back of her head down to her lower back making her sit up straighter as warmth flooded her back for contact with him. Nudging her back he helped her to gain her footing.

Reaching out to grab the plates of his chest armor to steady herself as she saw what was happening outside. The hole in the sky had gotten even bigger than her first glance and now she could see black shapes soaring through the hole. There were so many, this must have been the army he was talking about. Panic started to overtake her as she realized what she and everybody else was up against.

"We have to do something, we can't just let them kill everyone." There were so many people and families walking on the streets below. Running out onto the open aired platform Sofiya's senses filled with the sound of screaming and explosions from the citizens below. Out of nowhere, Thor dropped from the sky and landed about a yard in front of Sofiya.

"Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!" The power behind Thor's voice was that of a god and made even Sofiya want to shrink back, but she held her ground.

"You can't. There is no stopping it. There is only the war!"

"So be it."

Helplessly Sofiya watched as the two gods rushed at each other, the collision of their weapons ringing out across the sky. Realizing that the edge of the building was not exactly the best place to be when two Asgardians were battling it out Sofiya tried to step around the fight to a safer place but was blocked each time not wanting to get in the middle of the fighting men.

Thor took aim with his hammer to Loki's head but the move was easily blocked. Sparks flying from the collision. Loki used his full body to swing his scepter at his brothers head and Thor was just quick enough to duck out of the way.

Just as Thor had straightened his legs out Loki used the momentum from swinging his scepter to maneuver it over his shoulder and fire a blast of energy at Thor which almost found its target. It became clear to Sofiya that Loki was not playing games here, he was really trying to do harm to his brother. Their weapons came together in another collision just two feet bedside her and she watched as part of the building's sign plummeted to the ground knocked off from their fighting.

Not able to suppress the glow that illuminated her skin as panic rose from her stomach, Sofiya could taste her magic mixing with Loki's in the air. What she assumed where Chitauri zoomed by behind her, but a clash in front of Sofiya drew her attention. Thor was taking a more offensive role as he swung at Loki who leaned back missing the hammer by a fraction of an inch.

Using his momentum from pulling his back straight again - Loki grabbed onto Thor and pulled him forward. A roaring from above caught her ears and she looked to see the same jet she had flown in facing her. Trying to duck as she anticipated what was going to happen next an explosion ripped through the air and Thor used the distraction to grab onto Loki and even managed to land a few punches before Loki managed to block Thor with his scepter. The two men stood locked together with just inches between them.

As the two men pause in trying to kill each other Sofiya managed to stand straight again way to close to the edge for comfort.

"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it." Loki's eyes meet Sofiya's as if he was talking to her and not his brother. The raw emotion in his eyes only visible for an instant before his guard was back up and he turned to fully face Thor.

"No. We can. Together." From out of nowhere Loki produced a knife and before Sofiya could warn Thor, Loki stabbed him in in the stomach. Thor falling to the ground clutching his side.

"Sentiment." The world rolling off Loki's tongue like a joke. Thor charged at Loki kicking him before lifting him into the air. Cringing as Loki slammed down into the ground hard enough to vibrate the floor Sofiya shouted and raised her hand. Pure instinct drove her actions as she saw blood dripping from Loki's mouth, a golden orb materialized in her palm before shooting toward Thor.

Before Sofiya could tell if her blast hit its mark Loki rolled and grabbed her calve pulling Sofiya with him over the edge of the building. The fall shorter than she anticipated, Sofiya landed on her stomach Loki landing on her back knocking the air out of her lungs. Groaning before opening her eyes to see something other than concrete. The weight pressing her down went away and hands clamped around her waist, pulling her entire body weight up with no effort at all. Feet flat on the ground a yelp left her lips and Sofiya tried to fall to her knees to a safer position as she watched the ground pass by her more than a hundred feet below.

An arm clamped itself around her waist and pulled her back against a hard chest. The flying vehicle was alarmingly simple, there were no rails, just a seat and … a hoarse scream left her throat as she pressed further back into Loki. His arm tightened the slightest bit to provide her some security.

The alien warrior in front of her some type of savage looking human reptile crossbreed. Pale blue skin stretched out over tight muscle on display sent shivers through Sofiya's body.

"Shh, they will not hurt you as long as you are with me." Loki's voice in the shell of her ear causing a different type of shiver to make its way down her spine and to her fingertips. Suddenly the chariot veered around a corner and Sofiya swerved around to hide her face in Loki's chest.

" _Relax_."

" _Impossible._ " She felt as he inhaled and then exhaled in a sigh.

" _Keep your eyes closed for a moment_." He whispered the orders across her mind.

" _No problem._ " Sofiya protested as Loki tried to push her away from his chest but she refused to be anything but flush against him.

" _Trust me Vexy._ " The use of her nickname easing her nerves enough for him to manipulate her body. Sofiya let him maneuver around her, but he never lost grip of her waist. Loki tugged her downward and fear coursed through her before she landed on what could only be his lap.

Loki adjusted his grip to better hold Sofiya's fragile body in his lap. His heart was still racing, not from falling through the sky or flying through the air but from Sofiya trusting him. Not that she had had much of a choice but she had let him maneuver her on the small ship with her eyes closed.

His lungs surged with fresh air as he tucked Sofiya further in his lap. Laughing as she twisted in his lap to wrap an arm around his own waist, he leaned forward against the momentum of the ship to make sure her arm was not squished between him and the hard seat.

" _Sofiya, open your eyes._ "

" _I am so going to smash your balls once we land._ "

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SO what did you think? Please leave a review, I really enjoy reading them and they always brighten my week :)


	11. Chapter 11

Hello, if has been so long. I am sorry that I have not been able to update regularly but between my health and academics I have not had much free time. Do not ever worry about me leaving this fanfiction unfinished though. The next time I edit will probably be late June.

I saw Avengers Endgame on Saturday. I won't give any spoilers I promise! But I have decided to take this story to the end of Endgame, there is a loophole that those who have seen the movie might know what I am talking about.

Sorry this is kind of a short chapter I wanted to have a 7k one with part of the action in it but I just did not have the time. Next chapter will be awesome I promise XD

I hope you enjoy and please leave a review! I would love to know that the time I invest in writing and rewriting and then editing these chapters is worth it to some :)

Do you remember - Jarryd James (awesome song, one of my favs)

Illenium - Beautiful creatures

I see you - Missio

The Darker the Weather, The better the man - Missio (a good song for the characterization of Loki :)

Better - Kerli

Also, I had found a beta but they have not gotten back to me in more than 2 weeks so I am once again looking for a beta!

UPDATE - I fixed the italics for the telepathy

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"Whatever you say, darling." Loki quickly dismissed her threat.

Opening her eyes, Sofiya found that the stomach-dropping sensation of being a couple dozen stories in the air was better now that she was sitting down. Looking at her skin, she was surprised there was no gold glow even though the stress of the situation was undoubtedly high. Loki had to be actively leeching away her built up energy, but she was unaware of it, taking a deep breathe to help center her mind she reached out to look.

On what Sofiya was beginning to identify as the outskirts of her mind, she felt a tickle that put her on alert. The unique feeling that came along with the sensation told her it was Loki. Shaking her head once in lite humor at how - what was just days ago impossible, was now her new normal.

" _Stop siphoning my magic._ " Sofiya narrowed her eyes as she glanced at Loki, more annoyed than anything else. Loki had proven he was so much stronger than her and Sofiya doubted the effects of her siphoned magic would amount to any significant magic casting from him.

" _Learn how to control your magic and I will not have to._ " Loki retorted as his eyes lazily meet hers before they drifted t a spot above them. He had to have been looking at the portal that she had been avoiding at all cost. Sofiya's mind was just barely able to stay sane with all the life-changing information she had taken up recently. Somehow seeing a void into space and an army crawling through it to fly over the citizens of New York was too much for her to handle.

"Great idea, once we land I will go in search of Merlin." The abrupt frustration she felt causing her to default to speaking the words out loud as her hand that was not secured around his back started to wave in expression as she talked.

Loki ticked his head to the side in a movement so slight she almost missed it. The essence of peppermint infiltrated her mind and body for a split second, and she knew he was searching her mind for meaning of the reference she had made.

"That appears to be your problem and not mine." It was the way in which he crisply enunciated the words that got to her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" The anxiety from flying was starting to go down as her frustration toward Loki built. Yanking her arm from around Loki's waist in order to properly chastise him to her full capability, Sofiya crossed her arms against her chest and gave him her best death stare.

"Just because I seem to have taken a," Loki paused and seemed to consider his words carefully. During the pause whatever conclusion he had come to changed his attitude, where he had started off nonchalant he was now attentive and withdrawn. "A certain interest in your measly human life does not mean I will lower myself to teach the ancient art of sorcery to a human."

Sofiya found herself watching her own reaction just as he had. Loki for the first time in a casual conversation had mentioned he thought of her as different than other humans. The first time he had made her undoubtedly aware of his opinion had been a little tense and private, his admission now was made in public. Some of her frustration dissolved until he opened his mouth again.

"Do I need to teach you another lesson in your place? I can not have you thinking that you, a human," he scoffed the last word," are above the inferiority of other humans." The words coming from his lips were obviously composed in a defensive demeanor, every time she got one step behind his guard, he pushed her back in front of his shields again. Sofiya tried, she really did try to take in his situation and acknowledge everything that had shaped his view on humans to try and calm herself, it was not his fault. Her efforts were unsuccessful.

"You," she scoffed,"You are the one calling me entitled? What about all the speeches you have given about humans needing you to be their leader. I think you are the one who is delusionally entitled." All she wanted to do was get away from him for just a moment, enough to clear her thoughts, it was too much to be this close to him and have a proper argument. Something about his presence and physical touch drained her of her stubbornness, but oddly enough not her frustration.

Before Loki could respond, the alien driving the flying chariot turned and made garbled sounds directed at Loki. Watching the exchange, Sofiya was surprised to see Loki nod once when the alien finished talking.

"You can understand him?" She asked him while she observed that they were starting to descend.

"Yes." Loki answered like he was offended she thought he could not, "Did you think I would lead an army without being able to communicate with them?"

" _But you're not leading_ them." Sofiya said with confidence seeing if he would contradict her assumption. His reaction was not what she was expecting.

Loki rolled his lips together, and she saw his jaw clench before he relaxed, the movement so fast she almost missed it. His gaze poured into hers and all the commotion of the battle left her senses as it was just her and Loki. It was over almost as soon as it started as he broke eye contact and looked away.

The side of Loki she had come to know in the last couple of days would not act like that, his confidence had completely slipped for a moment, his actions not coinciding with his superiority complex. There was something more that she was missing. Opening her mouth to ask the question, she suddenly closed it as his eyes darted to her and then to the alien driving the chariot.

" _Loki, what's going on?_ " She asked him mentally too which he just shook his head. Then it occurred to her that Loki was worried, which made Sofiya worried. Loki was scared of nothing, probably not even death. Then her thoughts drifted to his shrunken bloody form. Yes, there was at least one thing Loki truly feared.

" _Tis' not safe to even place into thought._ " His voice that usually coated her entire mind, flew through it without even giving her a chance to grab on to it.

It still didn't make sense? Loki would not even think the thought? What could lead to that type of paranoia? Unless . . . she had dared to think that the torture inflicted upon Loki was more than physical but if it was some type of mental attack as well - what was the extent of it? His every action had been strategic, but apparently, his every thought had been strategic as well. How much of Loki did she actually know? How much of himself was he actually able to live by?

Just then she saw something that jerked her out of her thoughts. It was such a fleeting look, but she was able to spy a mother and child being cornered by one of the aliens. Without a second thought, Sofiya was jumping off Loki's lap and failing several feet to the ground, landing on her shoulder and hip.

Ignoring the pain from her awkward landing Sofiya got to her feet and took off running toward where she had spotted the cornered mother.

"Stop." She ignored Loki's command as it bounced off buildings to echo down the street.

Muttering a 'please work' to herself, Sofiya tried to call deep within herself. Sensing the magic inside of her she tried to calm her thoughts and direct the flow of magic into her hands. The mental battle of trying to harness energy was enough to tire her almost instantly. Checking to make sure her hand was materializing energy before she thrust it forward and saw the golden ball of fire fly through the air at the alien just as it was swinging its weapon. The mother - shielding her child with her body.

The impact of the blast almost knocked over the alien but he still held his weapon and before she could react - was aiming his own shot at Sofiya from what had to be some type of gun. All she could do was watch as he fired but the projectile never made it to her, halfway if hit an invisible wall and dematerialized.

Feeling the presence of Loki's magic around her, Sofiya turned her head to see Loki walking up behind her, then past her. Scepter raised, steps confident and shoulders high as his gaze narrowed on the alien. Then he stopped a foot in front of her and held his ground. The alien appeared to not feel threatened at all, made some type of sound and then stood paralyzed for a moment before falling to the ground.

Sofiya had no idea what to make of the situation, Loki had killed one of his own, one from his side. Without even turning his head to look at her, Loki reached out and grabbed Sofiya's wrist hastily leading her to an alleyway several feet away.

Once they were hidden away in an alley that smelled of burned peanut oil, Loki stopped walking and she almost ran into him. Pulling out of his grip, Sofiya watched as Loki turned from her and blasted the wall in front of him causing her to jump. Maybe this was it, the one time she actually went too far. It seemed like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to finally blast her.

Loki turned to face her and for the first time Sofiya shrunk under the intensity of his eyes, heart speeding up as her body recognized the threat to her life. Sofiya pressed herself against the damp wall behind her as Loki approached her.

"You could have ruined everything." His words were fast, harsh, and whispered. Instinct told her to keep her mouth shut, but she was not going to let him intimidate her.

"I wasn't going to sit by and watch them die." As the words past her lips, her adrenaline started to pump through her veins.

"Do you know how many other people are dying as we speak, it makes no difference."

"Every life makes a difference, damn it, why can't you just understand that." Her hands thrown up in exclamation. Loki was cornering her and she took her back off the wall to meet him, craning her head to keep eye contact as he towered above her.

"Why can you not just sit on the sidelines and shut up. I should kill you now," the look in his eyes was deadly, "You ruin everything."

"Don't go starting that again, we have already addressed you won't be doing that," Sofiya would have rolled her eyes but she did not want to break eye contact with him to in any way, even for a half second, and look submissive, "And I ruin everything?" A dark laugh left Sofiya as she placed her hands on his chest and pushed, Loki held his ground.

"I am so close." His voice dropped several decibels and her fingers clenched the material under her hands. The warmth from his body barely noticeable, most of it trapped under his armor.

"Close to what?" A mix of frustration and adrenaline still building under her skin, Sofiya tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, keeping up with his mood swings was challenging.

One thing was persistent though, the air between them was always filled with an ever-increasing tension. Even when Loki had been letting his guard down earlier, and she dared imagine - allowing her to see what was left of this tortured man under his hard shell. Even when they weren't arguing or challenging each other, there was always some type of tension begging to be released.

"No one can know." There was a look in his eyes, she could see the internal struggle behind his irises.

"If no one can know then how do you expect for your plan to work? In case you haven't noticed, this shit show is pretty big, you need someone to watch your back." She was starting to question what was considered a brilliant mind on Asgard. He watched her closely and she saw the moment the resolve hit his thoughts, was Loki finally going to let her in on his master plan?

" _If someone else knows, then there will be no plan that could ever work._ " The past few minutes starting to process in her mind, thoughts coming together.

"You want to gain your freedom from him completely." As she finished her sentence she saw the slightest tint of green under his skin. She knew he was powerful but she had never once before seen a slip of his magic under his skin like she had under hers, he was always so in control. If his control was slipping, it only meant that he did need help executing his plan before the pressure on his shoulders crumbled him.

Loki did not verbally reply, but the sudden pressing presence of his magic around her body was enough communication. It was almost too tight, her breath hitched for a moment as she became sensitized to the feeling. Sofiya's senses were filled with the essence of him, just Loki. The invisible blanket around her was more impeding than a protective casing, almost possessive.

"What? Are you afraid he's in your head right now? I think he's a little distracted right now." One of her hands left his chest to motion to the commotion in the street before she unconsciously brought it back to Loki. Not to his chest this time, but passed his hip to the cape hanging down behind him.

"Never underestimate him." The seriousness in his tone cut through the sass of hers.

"Tell me what the plan is and I will help you, I swear."

"You are only a human, there is nothing you can do." Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was her imminent death, whatever the reason her hand stuck his face. Loki's reflexes were fast enough that he could have caught her wrist before she touched him. Letting out a gasp under her breathe as she realized he had let her. His eyes shut for a moment and his chest expanded as she watched him take a calming breath.

Later the gravity of what she had done would hit her and Sofiya would regret laying an aggressive hand on the man that had been through brutal torture.

He made a move to grasp her shoulders but retracted his hands before they made contact, a groan filled with frustration left his lips and washed over her. Her senses assaulted by the presence of him even more, it was too much of him around her but not enough at the same time.

"Just stop, I do not want to hurt you." His eyelids scrunched closed for a moment before he opened them again.

"Right, don't want to damage the fragile human."

"No being has ever tested my control as much as you." Loki's mood shifted once again and his posture relaxed slightly, a small smirk on his lips.

"I take that as a compliment." His deterring nature was not going to stop her from getting what she wanted, she saw right through his act. "Now tell me your damn plan."

"He could be listening." The casual posture he was holding tightened again.

"Loki," His name softly falling from her lips. There was a heavy filled silence, their eyes locked on each other. Sofiya was unable to break the contact but Loki pulled his eyes from hers finally to look at some spot over her head.

"The first time I really invaded your mind, I was looking for information but also a connection to your father to reach him telepathically and plant an idea in his thoughts." Once he finished talking his eyes were on hers again.

Loki took a step back from her. He really should not be telling her this but some small part of him wanted to share his burden - to lighten his own load. There was also the fact that Sofiya had been able to get through the shield that Thanos had implanted in Loki's own mind. Loki had no way of knowing what she, or even he for that matter, were now telepathically capable of.

There seemed to be some connection between Sofiya and the mind stone that trumped Thanos's manipulation of the stone. Now was not the time to think about that though. Later, if he was still alive, he could spend as much time as he wanted thinking about it.

"What idea?" The clearness in her eyes was something that Loki found himself using to ground his own thoughts.

"He is going to suggest bombing New York."

"My dad? What? I need to let the Avengers know." Sofiya looked out into the street from their private alleyway and he saw desperation wash over her from head to toe.

"You can not." Loki was unwilling to think about how far he would go to keep her from crumbling his plans. He also did not want it to come down to testing himself with how far he would actually go versus how far he knew he needed to go to keep his plan from being derailed.

"But so many lives are at stake. The Avengers can't let the bomb reach New York."

"It has too." There was simply no time to come up with another plan.

"Stop being so cryptic." Better attuned to the connection that drew them together, Loki felt Sofiya's panic bleeding out around her, it would not be long till he would need to siphon off some of her building energy.

"I am holding out on Stark's intentions." There had been ulterior motives in starting the battle out at Stark's Tower, Loki needed to know just how far the Avengers would go in order to save the humans they had put under their charge.

"You're planning on them putting the bomb through the portal." Sofiya's voice was the softest it had been yet as he watched her put all the pieces together. If Earth's Mightiest Heroes only had half of Sofiya's analytical power they might have a chance of taking Loki down, but it did not matter - he was going to let them.

Once again Loki did not give her a verbal response. Dropping her hands from clingy onto his body Sofiya made herself take a step back from him. Not in submission, but in a move to help her think, having her senses being all consumed by his presence was not making it easy to think.

"What can I do to help?"

"It is too dangerous, you are too easily injured." Shaking his head he did a once over of Sofiya.

"I am stronger than I look." Well, that was for sure, but she was still not strong enough, or at least that is the excuse he gave himself for not wanting to make her an active participant of his plan. Loki found himself telling her more and more about the plan that was so vital to his survival, she was a danger to him.

" _My scepter is the only thing that can shut down the portal. In order to save the people the portal needs to be shut down after the bomb is maneuvered through the portal, after and only after._ "

"What do we do until the bomb goes off? I'm not going to go around attacking humans." Sofiya might be helping him but she was not helping his efforts to decimate humanity. She was helping him, and him alone. The fine line of her actions was sounding the alarms of her morals but she was too far invested in Loki, invested in trying to appeal to his own hidden humanity.

"It might be best to address the fact that you just attacked an Avenger."

"I …" She was going to deny it but he was right, Sofiya had attacked Thor.

"We can no longer anticipate them to trust in you. We have to think they all are aware by now you possess some type of power, which my brother will have noticed resembles mine, leaving them another reason to not trust you." The woman had not thought of the consequences to her actions, such an immature thing for her to do. He himself always overthought about the consequences to his own actions.

"Soo . . . I might do more to jeopardize your plan than help it - is what you are saying."

"I am saying - it is something we need to be aware of." There was still an underlying tension in the air but, it was not as strong as it had been. She went through his plan in her head, the pieces that had fallen together were drifting apart again.

"What do you plan on doing after, if your plan does work or better yet doesn't? You heard Stark about avenging the Earth."

"It matters not to you." He broke eye contact to look out over the sliver of the street he could see from his position in the alley.

"It matters to you though."

"As long as I am out of the clutches of Thanos …" Loki stopped abruptly, for all intents and purposes Loki should have his guard up at the highest level when this woman was around, but something about her presence made him drop his guard. Drop it enough to have made a mistake that could cost both their lives.

Sofiya was one of the biggest dangers he had ever encountered, not because she could physically harm him, but because he lost his better judgment around her. The short and frail human in front of him posed more of a threat than even Thanos did to Loki. All through the brutal temptation of Thanos's torture, Loki had never given into telling secrets he wanted hidden, even if Thanos had other means of getting the information. But with Sofiya, there was no threat in her advances and he still found himself letting secrets slip out.

"Thanos." Her voice strong against the irony of a being that could and would crush her without another thought. "So that's the name of your captor, the one basically responsible for all this." Looking down Loki watched as she tapped her foot and crossed her arms looking away.

Loki decided not to respond verbally least he give her more information. When he was silent for a while Sofiya looked up to meet his eyes.

"This is all so insane." She leaned her head against the wall behind her and looked up at the sky, filled with aliens. "I almost wish I could be anywhere but here - that I should just leave."

"Then why do you not just leave?" Humans were a curious species, but Sofiya was the most curious being he had ever come across. Loki was so conflicted, he wanted her to leave to be safe, but even if she left trouble might find her. And he wanted to keep her close to keep her safe, but even close to him she might get hurt.

"My problems will just follow me." The way she glared at him, was she insinuating he was a problem of hers? There was a soft exasperated edge to her voice.

Sofiya watched, waiting for Loki to make a comeback when he took on a suddenly distracted look.

"If you have not broken Thor's trust in you already, this may work."

There was no warning at all, no time to process what was happening before Sofiya found herself right back where this had all started in Stark's Tower. She looked around, knowing her search was useless, she would have felt his presence if he had come with her.

" _You fucking asshole. If your stubbornness over letting me in on the plan and what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing gets me killed or worse - both of us killed, I am gonna drag you back from the dead just to kill you myself again._ "

" _I could buy a realm if I was compensated every time you threatened me_."

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Again, just a reminder please review!


	12. Chapter 12

_I'm sorry, I'm not sorry. The tension is building! Do not fear though, once it finally explodes you will love me. I have spent a lot of time adjusting my timeline to the new possibilities that Endgame opened up. That being said_

 _MINOR SPOILERS MINOR SPOILERS MINOR SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME_

 _But they only apply to Loki and basically have no effect on the rest of the Endgame story, I give my word that you can read this chapter and nothing will be ruined for Endgame for you, I mean the resolval to the snap problem does involve some sort of travel … and as long as you know about that already, it spoils nothing._

 _I still have left a very clear indicator of where the potential spoilers start though._

 _I really would appreciate reviews! I am also curious as to what age you think Sofiya is? I have never clearly stated, I don't think, and that was on purpose, so leave me a review with your opinion of the chapter, things you loved, disliked, guesses for the future and the age you think she is if you want._

 _Playlist (and again my complete playlist of 100+ songs setting the mood for the story can be found on youtube if you search for a playlist titled "Loki fanfic" with the first song being Tom Walker - Leave a light On_

 _Wouldn't be Love (acoustic) - RITUAL_

 _Post Malone - Sunflower_

 _Matthew Mole - Running After You_

 _BANNERS - Got it in you_

 _Power, Broken, Hold my hand, and Bleed out by Isak Danielson (I love his songs if you can't tell :)_

 _Please Enjoy and remember to review, I often give reviewers sneak peeks at the next chapter!_

 _Triggers - mention of people dying_

* * *

Loki was always testing her patience in every way. After he had so graciously ported her ass, Sofiya had to pry a few more pieces of information from him about his - though it was most definitely by now their - plan. Sofiya tapped her foot in the elevator impatiently, why couldn't that asshole just have teleported her to the portal machine he had mentioned to her only after he unceremoniously dumped her ass in Stark Tower? But nooo Loki had teleported her to a spot several floors below in which she would have to take an elevator then two flights of stairs in order to gain access to the roof before she finally made it to the portal machine.

Only adding to her growing frustration was the fact that after dumping her ass, the detestable Asgardian god, or so he called himself, had made her stop complaining and basically beg for the directions to get the roof. Okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated, Loki had only made her say 'please, and with sincerity' once before giving her the information she needed. By the time Sofiya made it to the roof, New York could have been blown up a hundred times over.

Before she could muse any more frustrated thoughts, two chariots appeared in her line of sight and pulled her attention. Immediately noticing the green garb of Loki's battle gear, not to mention his gold helmet that could be seen from miles away. Loki's chariot was chasing another. Just as Sofiya noticed a figure that could only be Black Widow, there was an explosion of Loki's chariot.

Taking a futile step forward, she realized she could reach out to him mentally, proving old habits do die hard. As she reached out she was aware that Black Widow had jumped onto the roof.

" _Loki?_ " Scenarios ran through her head as she waited for him to respond.

" _I am fine darling. Remember the plan._ " His voice was steady and strong.

The impact of the landing had barely even registered in Loki's mind before he was back up on his feet, he glanced at his Scepter, which had rolled from where he had landed, making sure that it was within the line of sight of the roof.

The human scientist he had put in charge of making the portal was no longer registering as connected to Loki through the mind stone, he felt out for the man's energy and felt he was still alive. So much was riding on this plan. So many lives and they all depended on his will, his will to overcome the leash that Thanos had on his thoughts and actions. Loki's thoughts were cut short as he braced for the impact of the strongest Avenger heading his way.

The human mutant's green fist slammed into Loki's chest and carried him through a wall of glass before thrusting him into a wall. Reflexes honed over years of practice told his muscles to ignore the pain and land on his hands and knees as he fell from the wall now imprinted with his form. The Hulk was one of a few beings on Earth that could actually cause Loki physical pain.

Swinging his head up, Loki locked his eyes with the green ones as he watched it beat its chest like a wild animal. Anger overcame almost every particle of Loki's being, but there was a small section of his mind, a part that smelled of strawberries that housed no fury. The words that left his mouth were rooted in the foreign anger that controlled his system. Loki locked onto the anger, searching for its source, where to cut it off from.

"Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied -" Loki heard himself speaking, but his consciousness was searching the mental plane.

There! Just within his reach was the string that connected him to Thanos! Before Loki could grab it in the mental plane, a great force smashed him into an ungiving surface, again and again. The experience proving to be his most painful on Earth so far. The pain so much that the ability to form any other thoughts aside from pain related ones was taken from him.

Finally, the smashing ceased and Loki was left staring at the ceiling as he let the pain run its course and embracing the anger that was welling up. Loki's thoughts scattered just as he felt wounds open up on his chest that had nothing to do with the recent smashing he had endured. More anger accumulated but this time it was truly his. Loki wanted so desperately to be free of this physical reminder Thanos had left in order to guide Loki's thoughts back to those of Thanos's own agenda.

No, he refused to let his mind be directed by anyone but himself anymore, he refused to have to live in fear and guard his own thoughts in a small corner of his own mind.

" _Loki._ " A weary voice entered his mind and it took him longer than it should have to register to whom it belonged.

"Sofiya." The name he muttered echoing in his mind awakening a fire in him, making things clearer. Loki grounded himself in the connection he shared with Sofiya. A voice that sounded like his own traveling through his thoughts, telling him Sofiya was just a human and needed to suffer for that.

Thanking whatever god was listening that Erik Selvig had finally let it drop in conversation that the Scepter could close the portal, Sofiya took the opportunity to check on Loki as she volunteered herself to retrieve the Sceptor. Having felt a weird painless yet painful sensation emanating from her connection with him, she knew that Loki had been hurt.

As the door opened exposing Stark's penthouse room her breath caught at the destruction the room had taken in just a few short minutes since she was here last.

A moan drew her attention to an odd spot on the floor, no not a discolored spot, an indention of Loki's body. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted the Scepters blue and gold glow as it reflected the sunlight inches from the edge of the building. After only a moment of hesitation glancing back and forth between Loki and the Scepter, Sofiya took off in the direction of the Scepter.

As her fingers wrapped around the offending object, Sofiya looked out over the edge of the tower. There was too much for her mind to comprehend, people were dying right before her eyes. A tug in her heart pulled tears from her eyes as she thought of all the anguish people in the streets below were going through and the distress that their families and friends would face later.

She had the power, literally the tool to stop the alien ambush, right in her hand. Taking a breath, Sofiya looked at the Scepter then back over the edge of the building. Her final glance was up to the portal in the sky.

For the first time she had a clear view of what lay beyond the dark hole in Earth's blue sky. There were countless white and grey dots speckling the otherwise dark blue, almost black background. She was just able to make out what might be a giant ship behind all the speckles but then the air was sucked out of her chest as she saw creature after creature exit the portal. These flying worms had to be as long as the sky scrappers around her and just as thick too.

It became clear that unless the army was destroyed, they would come back to Earth and try again at a different date. This army would have attacked regardless of Loki being present on Earth or not. Sofiya did not have any more time left to ponder the complexity of Loki's plan and what it represented - Loki had not come with the sole purpose to destroy humanity.

A decision loomed over her head. If she let the bomb go through the portal and destroy the army, wouldn't she still be causing pain to the families of those she was destroying? It was a weird thought, that the aliens who looked so different from her had lives of their own, families of their own.

Every life mattered. The humans and the aliens in the street below and the aliens yet to come through the portal. Sofiya's morals began to collapse in on themselves.

If she closed the portal right now, she might be able to stop the bomb from being deployed towards New York City and stop the army from being blown up, saving the humans on the streets below. But then the army would come back later and more lives would be lost. A chilling laugh left her lips only to be lost in the wind.

Sofiya found herself facing the most ironic moral dilemma. The gravity of the situation she was in hitting her slowly then all at once. There were lives in her hands, thousands and thousands of lives, and she was going to stand by and knowingly let a portion of those lives come to an end.

Would she be able to live with this on her conscious later? It did not really matter, it was the sanity of her future versus the potential death of millions if she did nothing. No matter what she chose to do, lives would be lost.

Finally able to tare her eyes away from the streets below, Sofiya headed back to Loki.

A small hand wrapped around his wrist, another hand rested on his chest. Loki was so absorbed in the mental plan that the physical world was blurry. As the heat of the persons body soaked through his skin and armor, Loki welcomed it, was comforted by it, even craved more of it.

"Loki," a strawberry breath crossed his face and Loki brought himself out of his trance, he blinked once to clear his vision. Sofiya's delicate and worried face was centered in his vision, her hair tickling his cheeks as it fell around her face as she leaned over him.

A feeling washed over him, one he had not felt in such a long time. A feeling that Thanos had manipulated and tainted, but this time, this feeling was pure. Loki closed his eyes welcoming the feeling. Then another feeling that was not his shoved out the pure feeling, this overwhelming feeling was Sofiya's panic.

"I am okay." He whispered as the pain of talking out loud hit him, he was injured more than he thought.

" _I came to get your Scepter and -_ " Her voice choked cutting off her words, Loki grounded himself in her eyes, the gold circle around her irises mesmerizing him, his heart caught as he saw a sliver of green dance with the gold before fully dissolving into the gold.

Loki was too tired of fighting the opposing emotions and voices in his head. But he could not give up now, not when this humans happiness depended on it. Loki searched deep and found strength in the bound he shared with Sofiya. The newfound strength coursing through his veins held more power than anything he had welded before.

A tear dropped onto his face before lips touched his forehead. Eyes drifting shut on their own accord as Loki for the first time fully accepted the compassion in Sofiya's touch. The warmth from her lips being soaked up by his skin, warming his blood as it flowed under her lips. He felt her warmth as it passed through his heart, calming him, centering his mind, body, and soul. Soon Sofiya's warmth spread through his entire body, but there was the presence of another.

Taking refuge in a small portion of his head was a cold vile presence, one that completely contradicted Sofiya's essence.

" _Loki, I'm here. Fight it._ " The sweet dulcet tones of her voice washing over his mind. Loki felt her pushing further into his mind then she had been before, he was scared for a moment, scared of letting her see the horrible secrets he kept. No - not scared of her seeing, afraid of her being changed by the things she would see in his mind.

" _I have not a single memory where I have given my trust and it has not been betrayed_."

"Loki," Sofiya paused as she looked down at the crescent moon on her wrist. Something told her not even another binding promise would allow him to place his trust in her. "Loki, if you can not trust me, trust in yourself. Once you break off whatever connection you have from him, you can be free of his control. Be in control of yourself once again."

Sofiya had only seen glimpses of his unguarded eyes in the past, but here he was letting her see the turmoil in his soul and the weight of it all but crushed her. But she knew she had to hold on for him, she could feel that he was pulling on her strength to build his own.

Leaning back from his forehead, and not knowing when she had moved to straddle his waist, Sofiya straightened her back, Loki's eyes following hers the whole time. Loki tightened his jaw and leaned back on his hands, bringing him chest to chest with her. Even in this position, she had to look up to meet his eyes.

"Sofiya," he said aloud as his palm came to rest against her cheek. A sensation spread from him to her, and she understood. Loki wanted to give more to her, show her some of the compassion she had shown him, but he needed to learn to show himself compassion before he could give it to her.

"I'm not asking anything of you, but I am here for you. I can't imagine what you have been through, but I know you can piece the pieces back together. After all, you are a god." He was hanging on her every word, the warmth from his palm adding to the heat of her blush. It would be a lie to say she was completely unaffected by his closeness.

As close and open as they were at that moment, Loki felt what Sofiya was experiencing. There were too many questions in his head, too many memories and emotions twisted by Thanos that Loki knew he would never be able to give her what she deserved.

Dark humor laced through him - that was if he could ever even learn to love again. This woman thought he could though, thought he was strong enough to glue himself back together. The fire in him grew. Wanting to wrap himself in the clarity of her, and knowing from her thoughts, his actions would be welcomed, Loki wrapped an arm around her waist and sank his head into the crock of her neck.

He would allow himself this one moment of contentment, this one moment to form a memory to look back on when he was feeling weak. She stiffened and Loki immediately stopped to pay attention to what was going on in her head. Had he overstepped, misinterpreted what she wished for and what she was comfortable with?

The thoughts swirling around her mind were centered around the overload he was causing to her senses. A smile spreading on his lips, and it only grew as he got wind of the thoughts going through her mind as she registered his slight movement against the skin of her neck.

Loki wanted this, he knew he could not handle it now, not treat what they had with the right actions or emotions until he pieced himself back together. But he wanted it and he wanted it with her. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would ever get close to a human, crave a humans attention.

But he did.

Loki had traveled many realms, many corners of the universe and he had never met someone like Sofiya before. He had been through hell, torn down and spit out but he did not want to let that stop him from being graced by her presence. Even when she did not understand his actions or reasoning, this women just asked more questions or waited for events to play out, never judging him.

A part of him felt like he should be judged, by everyone, he did not deserve to be sene through eyes as clear as hers. No, he would try and piece himself together.

The only way Loki would ever be able to have what he wanted is if he cut the connection that Thanos was using to hold his mind hostage.

This was old and forgotten magic but Loki followed the call of his own magic. Trusting that his magic wanted to be free just like Loki did he let his instincts take over. Opening up to Sofiya was an experience he would never forget, giving her access to any and all parts of his mind just as she had earlier to him on the flying ship.

He realized that he could have abused the trust she put in him and gone through all her thoughts and memories, but he had not. He had wanted her to trust him, wanted a human to trust him. Relying on that same logic visa versa to calm the part of his being that was anxious about letting someone, much less a human, have access to everything that could break him down.

Then he felt her accept his gift.

Suddenly all the air was vacuumed from his lungs and Loki found himself clutching onto Sofiya. His eyes turned to rest beside Sofiya's thigh straddling his own. The Scepter lay there glowing brightly. As the pressure suddenly released in his lungs the glow died down from the Scepters.

It was done, he knew not how, he would figure it out one day, but his connection to Thanos was broken. Tangible proof of this was in the way the magical cuts on his chest had stopped opening and were healing. Somehow whatever was happening between him and Sofiya was strong enough to overcome Thonos's tether to Loki.

One more thought graced his now clear mind before the present rammed into him, the relationship between the stones was powerful enough to overcome any beings control over the stones.

The present came crashing down on him, he still needed to go through with his plan to be truly free from Thanos.

"Go, Sofiya go, finish this."

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT FOR ENDGAME

The next time Loki saw Sofiya she was following behind the Avengers as they came to detain him. Unable to help himself, Loki risked a grin in her direction. They had done it. And not only that - Loki finally had his own mind to himself. He felt truly free and in control of his own future, he felt lighter. As the Avengers and Sofiya closed in on him, Loki only had one request, "If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink."

When Loki met Sofiya's eyes a moment passed between them, where it was just them in their own private universe. For now, it was over. What needed to be done was done. They both took this moment to simply let a breath out. Loki released a bit of tension from his soldiers, but he felt the weight that had been added to Sofiya's shoulders.

As she looked at him, the past couple days flew past her eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time that week. Everything had changed, her core principles and morals, her view of not only the world but the universe had been morphed by what she had experienced. The easy part was over, the hardest part would be in the weeks to come when she had time to herself to question her stance on what was right and wrong. Not to mention learning to cope with her new found abilities.

As their moment came to an end, Sofiya worried for Loki's well being. Through their connection, she had gotten whisps of what was going on in his head. But it was a challenge to catch his thoughts once he had dropped his shields for her. Communicating mentally was much easier when he was directly sending her a message and not when she had to pull a message out from a storm of different ideas and thoughts.

Feeling outward - which was becoming so much easier, even though she still really had no idea what she was doing - Sofiya felt that he had put up all his shields again. This should not have surprised her or caused her heart to pump weaker for a few beats, but it did. So much had happened, and she would have to wait a couple more hours before she could sit down and think through it all to analyze what everything meant. The moment between them was broken as others demanded their attention and the group that had gathered moved towards the elevators that would take them down to the ground floor.

Perhaps it was because they were mentally drained from the battle, but neither Sofiya nor Loki noticed how Black Widow was looking at them, analyzing their every move as she packed Loki's Scepter into a secure case.

"All right. Good one. No standing around, I'm closing up this door for later." Tony was the first to speak up, his voice betraying the exhaustion his face neglected to show. Sofiya gawked at his confidence or was it ego, as he casually song the case at his side that she knew to contain the tesseract.

Tony turned his attention to Steve, "By the way, feel free to clean up."

"Uhh, magic wand?" Natasha reminded everyone of Loki's Scepter, as she seemed to be the only one whose mind was still sharp after the physical and emotional drain of battle. In that moment Sofiya felt her respect grow for Black Widow.

"STRIKE team's coming to secure it." Tony responded and a chill went up Sofiya's spin, something didn't feel right. Glancing at Loki, she watched as he surveyed the men that had just entered knowing by the look on his face he was scanning their thoughts. Loki's head cocked to the side before he caught Sofiya's eyes where he searched for a second before turning away.

The troop of been were obviously agents of some sort. Sleek kevlar armor was molded around their body from head to toe, and the weapons they wore were not just for using, no, they sent a very clear message of what would happen if someone stood against them. A man from the group stepped forward and approached Natasha with his hand out, wanting the suitcase she held. The same feeling was creeping up her spine, but Sofiya followed Loki's lead trusting him since he had already seen the intention of the men through their thoughts.

"By all means. Careful with that thing." The scarlet-haired agent passed the case off without hesitation.

"Unless you want your mind erased. And not in a fun way." Hawkeye added in warning, to which the man just smiled and promised to be careful before turning and starting to walk back the way he had come.

Sofiya then found herself with the full attention of none other than Captain America himself, she was unaware of Loki becoming alert to something approaching them.

"Are you okay sweetheart?"

"Of course she's not okay Steve, she just saw aliens flying around killing people." Natasha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, jutting a hip out, "We really need to work on your lady skills old man."

"Are you hurt?" Steve asked Sofiya, modifying his question, she shook her head. Feeling eyes watching her, Sofiya turned to see Loki giving her a questioning look, she tried to ignore him as Steve focused his attention elsewhere, but as her eyes fell and slipped his gaze Loki bowed his head to catch her eyes.

The impulse to laugh grew and she struck it down. Loki worried about a human? How just a few days had changed everything ... but there was a small bit of hesitation in her. What if she had misread his questioning look? Then it occurred to her, what if he had always cared or at least valued - that might be stretching it, more like fleetingly acknowledged - human life. They had not discussed it for more than a few brief passes, and her thoughts had not always been answered, but she knew Thanos had had some form of control over Loki. She had not even been close to guessing how strong of a hold Thanos had, as proven by what had transpired between her and Loki just a short time ago.

Sofiya was pretty sure that he had somehow managed to completely break the leash holding him, but it was all so confusing. Her actions had been driven by some instinct that she had never before felt. It had almost felt like her magic had separated and formed its own consciousness in which her brain followed in the direction of. Sofiya could not wait until Loki and she had a moment to talk about just what magic entailed. She had already picked up on the fact that it had more to do with energy and the manipulation of matter then spells and potions.

Once again Sofiya found herself with not enough time to even begin processing everything that had happened as her attention was drawn to the words Steve was saying.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue."

All eyes turned to Loki as he somehow transformed his body into that of Steve, Captain America's outfit and all, within a blink. Holy shit.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!" Loki mimicked, matching Steve's voice before he transformed back to himself. Was that even himself though? Sofiya's mind was momentarily blown as her concept of what was possible and impossible was challenged yet again. "I mean, honestly! How do you think you'll be - "Loki was cut off before he could finish by Thor slapping a device onto Loki's mouth that successfully quieted him.

Having approached the elevator someone pressed the button and they all waited for the doors to open.

Sofiya felt something wash over her, her mind jumping to alertness before she realized the presence was Loki's and she relaxed.

Loki was momentarily sidetracked from scanning her body for injuries by Sofiya's relaxation as she realized it was him and not a stranger exploring her nervous system. A humbling feeling rolled through him, how had he still managed to keep her trust after all that had happened? No longer was there an underlying shame to being awed by Sofiya's reaction to him.

Recognizing the trace of injured muscles and skin at several points of her body, Loki focused and with an exhale sent his magic her way, healing her without physical touch. It came so natural to him, checking her for injuries and then healing them. It was not even that he had gotten used to healing her because she had proven to be much more breakable, he simply wanted to sooth away her pain. Loki forgot that he had just played a card he had meant to keep for later.

The look on Sofiya's face was one of anger, and he was sure that she was replaying all the times he had touched her in order to heal. They were all being shoved into the elevator at this point and Loki found himself beside a fuming Sofiya in one corner of the elevator.

 _"You!"_ Her anger was such that she could not even form sentences and Loki found himself grinning, for some reason he took pleasure in her being riled up. Loki unable to verbally answer back sent her a nonverbal message, _"Yes darling?"_

Fist clenched at her sides as Sofiya glared at Loki, she could feel the energy build up as a result of her anger. By the look in his eyes she knew her own eyes had gone gold. The last place she needed to lose her cool was in the elevator and Loki knew it too. Bloody hell, he was so infuriating, he even planned when to infuriate her so she could not retaliate.

A wicked smile crossed her lips as she looked up at Loki through her lashes, the people around her would be the most understanding if she decided to jump him. Loki had taken her away from everything she had known, confused her own life principles and then put her in a position where she had to sacrifice a few lives for the good of the many. People had literally died, their lives snuffed out because she had to make a decision.

Loki had made her make that decision, she was aware that the elevator had started to move down and that the walls of said elevator were made of glass. Worst case, Loki would soften her fall, of that she was sure. His head cocked to the side, waiting for her next move. Appraising the situation once more before she let her impulses take over, she knew he could hold his ground against her, protect himself from injury. Emotions coursed through her as she lept for Loki.

Someone's quick reflexes grabbed her waist before she could wrap her arms around him, but she still managed to get a vice grip around his own waist with her legs.

 _"You are fully aware I could break these cuffs without a problem?"_ His voice caressed her thoughts like silk. Using her anger as a push to better direct her magic, Sofiya focused on her waist and there was a spark just as the arms around her waist dropped.

One of her hands yanked his head back by his hair just as someone else grabbed her other hand so forcefully it made her yelp, but she kept her grip on his hair and around his waist. In an instant there was a curse and the hand gripping hers dropped, without even a thought she knew that had been Loki's doing.

All it took was a moment for Loki to turn the tables.

The glass walls, the only thing keeping them from accidentally taking one wrong step and falling multiple stories to their death, exploded. Glass flying everywhere but not a single shard touched Sofiya. Loki swerved his feet on the edge of the floor and Sofiya found herself hanging by his waist over the streets of New York City.

The hand she had wrapped around his hair, joined her other hand to clasp around his neck. There was a moment when their eyes met and her heart speed up, from both the adrenaline and the trust she was placing in him.

 _"Fine, you have proved your_ point. _"_ Sofiya muttered so only he could hear, he bowed his head in acknowledgment and stepped back. Arms grabbed at her and she let them pull her off this time.

By the time the elevator docked on the first floor, everyone had composed themselves, the only evidence of what had conspired being the blown out glass. As Tony stepped out of the elevator he looked at Thor, "You're paying for that repair."

As they exited the elevator Natasha fell in step beside Sofiya, "If I could get away with mauling him, I'd do it too."

"I just wanna-" Sofiya raised her hands in a strangling motion and Natasha nodded and let out a dark chuckled.

"The world has seen enough death today." They both took a moment of silence and Sofiya realized Natasha had misunderstood her, she thought she really wanted to cause Loki harm. At one point she might have, but as of lately their brawling had just been a way to release steam with no actual harm being meant.

A man stopped their entourage just feet from the building exit.

"May I ask you where you're going?"

"To lunch and then Asgard. I'm sorry, you are?" At Thor's answer Loki rolled his eyes.

"Alexander Pierce. He's the man, one of the folks behind Nick Fury." Tony answered for the man.

"My friends call me Mr. Secretary. I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me." Sofiya's spine straightened and the situation gained her full attention. Form what she had seen so far the Avengers had a code of integrity that probably did not involve torture or death for prisoners. This man standing in the way did not give off that vibe.

Loki had been through enough, and his endgame had been a little selfish but overall had saved more humans than if someone else had led the invasion. For now Sofiya shook off the weight of Loki's betrayal to Thanos and the problems it would bring in the future. Sofiya called to her magic readying it for a fight unaware of the surprise flowing through Loki at her reaction.

"Loki will be answering to Odin himself." Thor retorted as he also took up a guarded stance.

"Oh, he's gonna answer to us. Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case, that's been SHIELD property for over 70 years." At his words her adrenaline began to spike for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

 _"Stand down Vexy. Do not let him see what you can do."_

"Hand over the case, Stark."

"I'm not gonna argue who's got the higher authority here, all right?" Tension in the room was rising as Tony stood his ground.

"I need the case." Sofiya decided in that moment she really did not like this Pierce guy.

"I know you got a lotta pull. I'm just saying…" There was no way that Tony was going to hand over the case.

"Okay. Then give me the case." Pierce's voice tried to take on the air of authority but the effect was null in comparison to the authority radiating from Loki even as he stood with his hands cuffed and mouth covered, much less the other Avengers.

"Get your hands off!" Tony exclaimed as Peirce made a move for the case, then chaos broke as Stark fell to the ground and shouting ensued. Someone shoved Sofiya and she stabilized herself just as she heard what could have only been the Hulk yelling.

Suddenly finding he tesseract at his feet, the first place Loki's eyes went as he looked away from it was to her gaze. When their eyes locked he knew, she knew what his choice would be. Whether or not if she had guessed the correct reasoning for it he did not know, there was not enough time to search her thoughts.

Loki wanted to keep her safe, no, he needed to keep her safe and the best way to do that was if he was gone. That way there would be no way to connect them together and discover their link. He needed to set up a mental block and no matter the temptation he faced not open it back up.

The temptation - he could guess at how bad it would get. He would want her close to help clear his thoughts and to calm him. He still knew not if he trusted the human woman, by all rights she should have earned his trust by now but he was damaged, his views distorted. Hell, he did not even know definitively yet if he could trust his own thoughts and knew he could not trust his memories. The connection that Thanos had on Loki's mind was broken but the effects of the giant's manipulation and torture was still fresh. If he could not trust himself then how could he truly trust someone else?

Effortlessly breaking the cuffs around his wrist Loki grabbed the tesseract and then straightened once again to meet those eyes laced with gold.

 _"I'll check in on you in person but Thanos will be chasing me and it is going to be too dangerous to talk mentally, in case he gets a lock on you through me."_ She understood as she nodded to him. This would be goodbye, she might never see him again. Something in her gut told her it was not the end but she had learned that reality always came crashing down. Sofiya had thought she would have more time and maybe even never have to say goodbye to him.

Thanos would be after him for his betrayal, Loki needed to run, she would not hold that against him and still something in her heart pulled at every tissue of her being. Through the short time she had known Loki she had gained more than she ever had before.

Freedom from the constraints of her father, freedom in her own choices even though Loki had not exactly given her a choice in some matters she still had an opportunity to defy him. With her father there was never that choice, she had to make choices based on how her family would be looked at, never even by just by what she wanted. But when she was with Loki her choices were about what she wanted she was truly free.

Her own morals had been challenged and she had grown from that, her eyes had been opened to the possibilities of the universe and not just her own world, literally.

Then he was gone and her chest sunk in.

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What do you think!?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 yayyy! I can't believe it's been a year in the making! I know my updates were sporadic for a couple months so thank you for sticking with me! The story is going to be over 100K! I rewrote their first kiss (again) and it's going up fast, not this chapter but soon!

Triggers and notes about future chapters. Some things in future chapters might be triggering to some, but I will try not to get to dark but I do not want to just ignore the effects of the events that Loki has been through. I will give warnings at the start of every chapter about what PTSD symptoms will be present and any other triggers i think of to add. If anyone wants to read a chapter but is worried about some of the triggers I can edit a chapter specially for you taking out the triggering events and pm the edited chapter to you.

This chapter was getting pretty long with my final edits so I decided to split it in two, but that makes this a kind of filler chapter! Don't worry Chapter 14 will be coming within the next week, so keep watch :)

I would also like to thank my amazing new Beta housesbabe1

Even though she has her own writing projects currently she has still agreed to help keep me focused as I write Dark Star. Through my talks with them they have shown how amazing and strong willed they are, so make sure to give them lots of love!

Playlist -

I'll come back for you - Max Schneider

Only you - Parson James

I don't want to lose you - Luca Fogale

Jaymes Young - Wondering

 **One final note, the lovely housesbabe1 brought up the confusing timeline since Loki is visiting other planets, so just a reminder - time on Earth passes slower than other planets, thus all back and forth between Loki Sof povs will have time stamps based on the last time they saw each other to make it less confusing.**

* * *

At several points over the last few days all Sofiya had wanted was a few minutes to sort through her thoughts. Now that she had those few minutes, she did not want them. It was a daunting task, coming to terms with what had happened.

She watched as footage of the destruction left from what was being called the Battle of New York filled Tony's enormous television screen. Seeing the torn up buildings and the people crying at various places pulled at her heart too much, she had to look away. Turning her eyes from the pillage, Sofiya surveyed the room.

Tony had chosen for them to gather in a room that had no windows to the outside world. She liked his choice, they had all been through hell and even though they were watching the aftermath on the television, not being able to see directly onto the streets was something they all needed. When they entered the room Tony had introduced it as one of his backup entertaining rooms, whatever that meant. There was a bar at one end of the room and many places to sit, but currently, Natasha, Steve, and herself were all gathered around the same television.

Thor and Banner were out helping with search and rescue efforts. They were very useful in places rescue workers could not fit heavy machinery to lift debris off people. Clint had disappeared somewhere after he had said a couple words to Natasha.

There was something in the air that could not be described as tension but Sofiya knew nothing else to compare it to. Everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop, or perhaps be thrown at them. Her attention was drawn to a scene on the television of Thor lifting a building off a woman whose business suit was covered in dust just as every inch of her skin.

"They don't make 'em like that on Earth." Natasha said and there were tired chuckles from around the room.

"Speaking of Asgardians . . . we need to debrief." Tony said forlornly before bringing his glass up to his lips and taking a sip leaving the glass empty.

Just then Pepper walked in, not a hair on her head disheveled. Sofiya watched as Pepper left her heels at the door, then proceeded to take off her blazer and place it over a bar stool as she made her way to the wet bar. Selecting a wide variety of different alcohol bottles she successfully managed to fit them all in her arms. Next she walked around the room handing them out.

"We all need a drink." Pepper reasoned walking back to the bar and setting out two glasses she opened a bottle of champagne and then poured a serving into both glasses before getting orange juice from the refrigerator under the bar and adding that to both glasses as well.

Pepper smiled as she approached Sofiya before handing her one of the glasses and taking a seat by Tony.

"I have arranged for debriefing paperwork to be pushed off and filled tomorrow night instead of tonight. I have also officially stated to SHIELD that Sofiya was under the same mind control that Clint was and has no memory of anything that happened. They still want one of their own to speak with her but I will get around that as well." Sofiya was amazed by this woman, everyone else in the room was physically and emotionally worn out but here Pepper was still getting business done.

"Babe, you're perfect." Tony said as he laid his head on her shoulder and she took a deep breath as she gulped down several sips of her drink. Sofiya took sips of her own.

"Might as well talk about the elephant in the room." Natasha said uncrossing her legs so she could set her drink down on the table in front of her. "We don't know if we can trust you yet Sofiya. Thor told us you blasted him with a ball of energy that bore a sister signature to Loki's energy." Natasha paused and everyone else was looking at Sofiya, analyzing her reaction.

Remembering the crescent moon mark on the inside of her wrist Sofiya chose her next words very carefully knowing that the others would try to get as much information out of her about Loki as they could. Sofiya had vowed never to use Loki, she could get around that by telling others information so they could use him, but she did not want to do that. So, instead, she would watch very carefully the information she gave out about him.

"Thor is correct. There was an incident with the Tesseract and Loki's Scepter . . . I don't really know how to describe what happened, but when I tried to use the tesseract as a bargaining chip to get my freedom when Loki first kidnapped me - he blasted me with his Scepter and I raised my hands to protect myself, the Tesseract being in my hands as well. I passed out after that and when I woke up, I could do things."

"What type of things?" Steve asked.

Sofiya proceeded to tell them about her time with Loki keeping things out or changing the story a little where it needed to be. Sofiya did not want them to know everything about the connection she shared with the Asgardian, but she still needed to gain their trust. After her story was done, they were very upfront.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say, we want to be able to trust you but we still need time to determine if we can." Natasha said as she swirled around the liquid in her glass, her face was unreadable.

Steve looked at a clock on the wall and sighed.

"We should try and get some sleep, so we can start cleaning up tomorrow. There is a tough road ahead of us." His eyes then met hers, "Sofiya, Natasha will keep you by her side for now. Anything you need, anything at all, just ask her." Sofiya knew by the look in his eyes and the tone he was using that he could tell she had left some things out of her story. America's hero was guessing it was because she was ashamed to talk about the moments she left out. None of the things he was guessing actually had happened to her, but she still was thankful for the support.

Thoughts trailing to Loki, she hoped that he was okay. It was going to be hard not reaching out to him. He had put some type of shield around her thoughts, she could reach out and feel it but it was different than when she had felt out for him before. The shield was tangible in her mind but it was not sentient.

 **-32 days after the Battle of New York, Midgard time-**

Loki looked out over the skyline as he surveyed the trading post planet he had landed on. This planet was barren of greenery just as the others he had traveled to after escaping Earth. And just as the others were, this one was a trading planet as well. One whose surface area was not large enough to support all the necessities a population must have to thrive. Therefore few people called it home and most people came from other planets to set up shops importing goods and such for their livelihoods.

Surveying one of the few cities covering the land, Loki observed for any security measures he would have to get past while also looking for any signs of Thanos. Loki's thoughts wandered like they did anytime he thought of Thanos. A cringe washed over him and he rubbed at a long healed wound on his thigh, one that Thanos had given Loki himself.

Loki hated that the torture had left such an impact on him, it made him feel weak because he could not just get over the events. What annoyed him more was the voice in his head sounding like Odin scolding him for not being strong enough to handle things like his brother would be. _Thor, the great golden child_. Looking back Loki should have seen the signs sooner. Odin was never going to give him the throne, never even gave Loki the same opportunity to undertake challenges that would help mold him to be a king like he did Thor.

In that moment, Loki promised himself that he would never let a conquest blind him again. He had always prided himself on being inquisitive and paying attention to everything going on around him, looking for ways to insight mischief and manipulate people. Turns out he was the one being manipulated the whole time.

There it was, another sign that he was broken, he could not even put in the effort to be mad at Thor or Odin, he was too broken to do that. For some reason, his last thought made him think of the fragile human that had come to mean more than he would like to admit to himself.

When they had been challenging each other hundreds of feet above the ground in that flying tin can SHIELD had been so proud of, Sofiya had blindsided him with opening up her mind to his. Her shields were weak, untrained so he could have easily forced his way into her deepest darkest held secrets. And he had done this to several of the other humans that he had commanded to carry out his operations with but for some reason he had not done it to the human he was holding hostage.

In fact, when images had assaulted his mind of things he knew to be private, he had put up a shield against them. And when he had used the memory of Sofiyas brother against her, he felt bad about it. Thor had been used against Loki in the same manner many times by Odin, and Loki had let that get to him, but Sofiya had not. The human had not let many things get to her, but sometimes she let Loki get to her, the corners of his mouth raised in memory.

The number of times the darling weakling had stood up to him was amusing. Loki found himself unable to wait until the next time her eyes cut into his and her sharp mind went against his. Through all his travels he had never met another being like her. His heart jerked as he worried about what was happening to her. Thor no doubt had connected Sofiya's attempt at blasting him to a magic signature relating to Loki's.

Was she being punished for his transgressions? A protective instinct crawled against his skin and he forced himself to not mentally check in on her. No torture the humans could inflict upon her would ever amount to what Thanos would do if he caught on to their connection. Loki could not deny it anymore, it was not just the connection that Loki had with the woman that was a problem, it was the relationship he had grown with her.

In a world where he had learned nothing was as it seemed, Sofiya was refreshingly transparent. Loki had grown to cherish this about her, all her intentions were written over her perfect facial expressions. Even after all she had been through her heart was still open to others, not closed off like his heart was. In the short time he had come to know Sofiya, Loki had come to utterly cherish her for accepting him even though she had only seen the worst of him. Sofiya had chosen to stay by his side when he said she was free to go, chosen to aid him in the end.

It seemed like everything in all the universes was against Sofiya and himself, even time itself. The laws of the universes directing that life on Midgard was passing slower than it was on the planets that Loki was wondering. Another couple hours and he would pop onto Earth to check on her. It had been almost a month since he had seen her, but in her time it would only be a few days. Over the last month, he had made sure to stay clear of any of the realms that were under Asgards control. Those were the first places Thanos would look for him, and Loki had no doubt Thanos was looking for him. Or more precisely the infinity stone Loki possessed.

It would only have taken Thanos a short time to regroup after Loki had blown up a portion of his army. But one thing Loki had learned was that Thanos was just as strategic as Loki, always had plans in action in case others fell through. Thanos was not the only one that made sure his ass was covered. Before the failure of Thor's coronation Loki had set up a backup plan, one he hoped was still useful.

Standing up from his hiding place, Loki began his trek to the city. Loki was sure that the fence around the city was more than just a physical barrier, it was giving off some sort of energy. Loki guessed that transporting in and out of the city was not an option.

Entering the gates of the city, Loki took notice of just how cautious the guards were. A slight moment of panic that was uncharacteristic of pre-captivity Loki washed over him as the guard knicked Loki's finger with some type of blood scanner.

His self-hatred for his panicked state was enough to clear his mind and not a moment too late to focus on a being standing a few places behind in line. In an exhale it was done, he had discarded his on blood in the scanner and replaced it with another's.

As Loki wandered the streets he took some time to think. This was one of the few moments he did not have to have his guard one-hundred percent up, only about ninety percent. Since they had checked him going into the city they were less likely to be looking for him inside it.

He was lost but he did not want to be anymore. Thinking back to how weak he had felt over the last couple days Loki silently scoffed to himself. During the first part of his captivity he had not felt weak, he had felt like he was strong for enduring the torture. When Loki realized Thanos had been messing with his mind, that was when he had come to terms with how weak he had actually been.

Loki now realized he had never been weak - he had been surviving. Sofiya had shown him that. All it had taken was watching the human who was physically weaker than himself be put through the hardest mental stress imaginable for a human. Yes, he was aware that every being had their own struggles and stress, but no other human before Sofiya had been through the mental distress of finding out there was a whole universe of beings stronger and more advanced. Not to mention facing an army that had the potential to take over her Earth because of said advancements. And she had taken it with considerable grace given the situation, she had not crumbled under the stress like he had, but adapted and pushed through it.

He saw the reflection of her own strength in adaption to her concept of reality mirrored in himself. There was still a doubt in the back of his head that he was weak, but he tried to shake it off. The impulse to think he was weak just because he was unable to gain full control of that voice in the back of his head also weighed on him. But Loki wanted to be free of all ties from his captivity, all doubts.

There was an undeniable clarity to his thoughts when he was with Sofiya. He knew not if that would remain now that he was free of Thanos's clutches, but he intended to find out. Loki had to admit to himself that he also hoped Sofiya's presence still brought him clarity because he liked her presence.

Loki was a mere handful of steps away from his destination when it occurred to him. What if Thanos had been using Loki since before he even had Loki in captivity, what if Thanos had somehow been involved with Thor's failed coronation, and Thor being banished to Earth? He filed that thought away for later.

Walking up to the shop, he finally took in his surroundings. This shop was deceivingly shabby, but not a complete dump, and that was the intention. To anyone walking by it would be easily dismissed and looked over. The paint around the sign above the door was a faded and peeling purple, the same as the paint around the one shop window that showed an array of second-hand clothes for many different beings.

There was no bell or notification that a customer had just walked in when Loki crossed the threshold, there was no need. The shop owner would know instantly when someone stepped foot on his property, and he would instantly know it was Loki. Loki was putting a lot of faith in the man that he had not been corrupted by Thanos. For the shop owner could be an ally or servant that would change the scales of war.

" _Ah, long ago my mind was corrupted but I outgrew that corruption my friend._ " The voice in his mind was calm and omniscient. The shop owner choosing to let himself be known inside of Loki's magic and mental fields.

"Hello friend, am I right in assuming you have caught wind of recent events?" Loki found himself giving even more respect to the shop owner than before.

Yes, Loki had always respected him as he had long speculated the shop owner who liked to go by the name Herc was apart of the Watcher race. Herc had never confirmed nor denied Loki's speculations, but there was no other explanation for the man's vast knowledge and powers.

"My old friend, I am glad you have reclaimed your freedom, even if it is at the price of being hunted."

"In your shadow, my age pales in comparison."

"It is not age that dictates a person's mentality, but it is their experiences and how they choose to accept or deny or grow from reality." Loki bowed his head as he walked up to the counter, Herc's words were direct, but like every encounter Loki had had with him before, _eerie_.

Before Loki could respond the man spoke up again.

"We have little time as your stunt at the gates granted you only so long. You need not fear, I planted the seeds of your many new alisises before your flesh had been marred by the conflicted Titan. I also thought it useful to set some other things in motion, but you will become aware of those things when the time is right."

Loki was not perturbed by the one-sided information exchange. In fact, all his meetings with Herc had been this way, only aiding his speculation about the shopkeepers race. Loki sat silently taking in everything that was said to him. The watchers were a race that were rumored to be able to see and dabble in all versions of reality.

"There is much healing in store for you, but you cannot heal alone. The aid of a trusted is needed; otherwise, I fear you will be lost to corruption. You have met the individual I have selected to be your confidant. Forgotten sorcery has been invoked to bind you, but I can not tell you why. I can only tell you that this is a strength to be utilized in the coming times. Guard this connection well, for if Thanos unveils any more of the abilities of the gems of existence the scales will change."

The last time Loki had met with this being he had not yet figured out what the infinity stones were. Only in his bid to gain his freedom had The Other given him the Scepter and Loki pieced it together. There was no doubt in his mind that the forgotten sorcery invoked was the infinity stones involvement in connecting Sofiya and himself.

"My former self would scold me for what I am about to divulge, but my corruption has been lost so I care not as long as it does not change the final event. There is doubt left in your mind from the manipulation of your thoughts. The powers that hold you and your dear Sofiya connected will not allow for any distortion of thoughts; thus, you can trust your memories and thoughts pertaining to the human. This is my gift to you, for I saw every moment of your captivity."

There was something in the eyes of the being, perhaps guilt. Had he seen the events before they took place and was guilty he had not stepped in? Realizing the burden Watchers carried after Loki had had only a small piece of it in ensuring humanities continued freedom, Loki could not bring himself to harbor any ill feelings toward the being in front of him.

 **-6 days after the Battle of New York, Midgard time-**

As Sofiya sat in the back of one of Tony's well armored black SUVs she gazed out the window dreading the scenery change from rural New York to New York City. They still had about thirty minutes before they would cross the bridge into the city.

Natasha was driving and there was another SUV following them. That car held the few belongings she had picked up from her home. Well, it was not her home anymore. Sofiya had spent two days and nights following the battle crashing in an apartment that Tony had reserved in his building for Natasha.

The morning after the battle Sofiya had taken Natasha in as her confidant. Hoping that Loki's promise to come back was true, Sofiya needed to prepare the others in case they ever came across him. But how to do that when he had just been in charge of killing hundreds of humans? She hadn't had no other choice but to tell a slightly altered tale of the truth to Natasha and hope that the spy mistook her lying as hesitance to tell her the information.

The versions of events Sofiya had told involved one of forced servitude. Taking into account how close she suspected Clint and Natasha were, Sofiya used that to her advantage. Saying that Loki had been put under the same mind control that Clint had, thus nothing that Loki had done had been his doing. Knowing that the spy would be hesitant to believe this due to Loki wielding the device that was used to insight control over one's mind, Sofiya added a closer version of actual events.

She explained that Loki had been battling control and at the last minute before Loki lost control of Erik, put the idea in his head to use the Scepter to close the portal. Sofiya had been with him in an alleyway when this struggle over control of his own mind was taking place. Shortly after Natasha had checked video footage of New York and saw that Loki and Sofiya had indeed taken refuge in an alleyway. Luckily there had not been any cameras in said alleyway, just on a storefront across from it.

Sofiya also told Natasha that she had been present when Loki's boss came for a visit. Loki was worried that Sofiya would be abused and then killed by his one-time boss for knowing about him. Thus, when the opportunity presented itself, Loki escaped leading the boss away from Sofiya. But because Sofiya had inherited the capacity to wield magic, he was worried that she would become a beacon to his ex-boss. So Loki was going to come back and help her learn how to control her new abilities.

At the end of her tale, Natasha seemed to believe more than not so the words she had been told. There had been questions. One was, why could she not tell the others this? Sofiya had answered saying that Loki's past boss was much stronger than anything they had seen before, much stronger than anything Earth was prepared to fight, even with the Avengers. If he got wind he was known about, he might attack Earth before they were ready, and he might go after Sofiya.

Natasha reluctantly was willing to let Loki gain her trust, but one wrong move, one misstep, and she had declared all hell would be coming down on Loki. It had also been made clear that just because Natasha was giving Loki a one chance did not mean that she was forgiving for all the lives he was responsible for being lost. A deal had been made that Sofiya was to let Natasha know anytime Loki stopped by Earth, and after he left, a report on his relevant activities was to be given. Sofiya was just happy that he was not going to be arrested the second he made an appearance on Earth. When it came time to giving the report to Natsha, Sofiya would figure out what she was going to keep out or change.

Using the Tesseract Loki teleported to Earth. His own powers enabled him to teleport over distances, but nothing like the distance that the Tesseract allowed him to teleport. Taking in the fields filled with some uncared about crop and making sure he was in a safe place, Loki turned his thoughts inward.

Keeping all the shields up in her mind went against his instinct, it also went against his instinct not to immediately port to where she was located, but he needed to check out the area first. Closing his eyes he searched for Sofiya's magic signature, as searching for her mental one would likely result in her becoming aware of his presence sooner than he wanted. When he felt her something inside of him was moved, the overwhelming essence of Sofiya threatened to tempt his senses into action but using the training of a warrior he held off.

Running a discrete scan of her thoughts he saw she was on the move, seeing the destination she had in mind, he ported there. Making sure to conceal his power signature as well as his physical form Loki took a look around.

The space was large and empty of personal belongings, he could feel the trail of Sofiya's essence. She must have moved homes after everything that had gone down, filing that thought away to ask her about later. Loki continued his scan of the room. It seemed like the room he was in was some type of open-style foyer, living, dining room, and kitchen. The dark wood table with matching chairs contrasted starkly with the light hardwood floor. The kitchen had appliances to which he easily could guess their function.

The whole apartment seemed to be of some type of modern yet comfortable design. Sleek counters contrasted with a sofa that reminded him of a cloud as he sunk down in it. His muscles stilling as he heard a voice echo across the room.

"You must be Loki." There was no doubt the voice came from some type of speaker and using his knowledge of humanity, he guessed from the details of speech the voice belonged to some type of artificial intelligence system. "Miss Marshall said you may not make a conventional entrance."

Loki debated making his presence known but felt that if he were unwelcome he would have already been made aware of that. Shaking off the cloak of magic, he made his form visible.

"And you are?"

"I am Jarvis, some might call me Mr. Stark's personal assistant. Though I have been given permission by Miss Romanov to not alert security to your presence on the premises." As usual Loki's inquisitive nature only brought about more questions than he was given answers.

"Does Miss Romanov get notified when I am on the premises?"

"No, you are," the system paused and Loki noticed the humanist qualities as if it was trying to figure out the most appropriate words even though he had no doubt it had already had them mapped out before beginning to speak, "Miss Romanov filed your presence under the 'vetted booty call guest' clause. She added some stipulations though, if you leave this apartment I am to make Stark aware of your presence with no exceptions."

As Loki let that information settle into his mind a sense of deep-rooted satisfaction washed over him.

After going over the apartment Loki was surprised to not find any listening devices besides those that seemed to be connected to Jarvis, there were no cameras, just motion sensors which explained how Jarvis sensed Loki even though he was virtually invisible.

With Loki's safety ensured he finally reached out to Sofiya and removed the shield he had placed around her mind with another one. The shield he had left wrapped around her thoughts was one that he would not have to constantly check in on. He had constructed it to be an impenetrable obstacle that would keep her thoughts safe and private from others. Knowing that she had a penchant for broadcasting her thoughts when she got excited, Loki had made sure that was not a possibility.

The shield he replaced it with was one that was connected to his own stream of thought. This would ensure that he would be made aware of anyone trying to get a peek inside of her mind. Closing his mind for a moment he found his visual senses being taken over by images of the mental field. Sofiya's mind was a bright star on this plane but as he constructed the new shield, the gold star was cast in a shadow of darkness, another precaution to keep her from being scoped out by any curious beings.

Sofiya felt it when they were crossing into the city. The non sentient shield around her mind was replaced with one that was sentient.

" _Loki?_ " She called out mentally.

" _Yes, darling?_ " Sofiya had not known how much she needed to hear Loki's voice run across her thoughts until it happened. Her shoulders relaxed and her heartbeat lighted, he was alive.

The closer she got to the building the more she felt it, feeling more whole when she did not realize she was missing anything. Sofiya's heart seized up for a moment, and she knew without a doubt what the feeling was. Loki was back on Earth.

" _Where are you?_ " There was no shame in her as she heard the eagerness in her own words.

" _Your apartment._ " His simple answer made her heart skip a beat.

" _How did you know to go there?_ "

" _If I keep telling you all my secrets I will no longer be dark and mysterious now will I?_ " Sofiya began to feel the blossom of anticipation in her chest and she mentally counted the blocks they had to go till they reached Stark's building.

Sofiya had so many questions for him, but even through their brief conversation, she felt the tiredness that overwhelmed him. Constant vigilance had taken its toll. Knowing she would be seeing him in a matter of minutes she gave him the time to rest.

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Please review and tell me what you think! And remember, chapter 14 will be posted in the next couple days, so keep a lookout for it!


	14. Chapter 14

Here it is as promised, Chapter 14! I hope you all enjoy. Also to note this is the longest chapter yet :)

Chapter dedicated to KatelynnBB, thanks for your reviews! An of course a hout out to my wonderful beta housesbabe1 :)

Playlist

Only Love - Jordan Smith

Jamie Scott - Unbreakable

Dave Baxter - whispers

Nathan Wagner - Love

Yours - Ella Henderson

Let go - Beau Young Prince

Triggers - Mentions of tortrure nothing graphic though, repurcutions of torture and skinship with others, Thor being thrown thorugh a wall ;)

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Trying to excuse herself back to her apartment without being suspicious failed because she was in the presence of one of the best espionage agents in the world. Right before Sofiya had escaped Natasha's clutches, Natasha slipped into the elevator right behind her.

"He's here, isn't he?" It was less of a question than a statement. Sofiya stopped acting, it was pointless. She was too filled with emotion to lie successfully, Sofiya sent back a silent nod in response.

"I still . . . Sofiya I just don't know what to do. I mean yes, because of him Earth was saved but also because of him many lives were lost. He needs to face the consequences." Sofiya could understand Natasha reluctance, after all, few if anyone but Sofiya had figured out what had happened to Loki and were on his side at the present time.

"I know it's going to be hard but please just don't go back on your word and give him one chance. He was still a prisoner until the end." As Sofiya reminded Natasha she wished that others could see Loki in the same light that she saw Loki in. Especially Natasha whom she had grown close to over the last couple days.

"If you are lying about him being a prisoner, so help me Sofiya - that's the only thing that is stopping me from bringing hell down onto him now." There was something in her eyes and Sofiya had guessed Natasha had a dark past as well, something that let her empathize with the situation that Loki had been in.

The rest of the elevator ride was tense and silent. Sofiya was very much aware of the dilemma circling around Natasha's mind, but she was so eager to see Loki she could not bring herself to confront it. Sofiya barely heard the whisper of Natasha saying she would wait outside Sofiya's door to give them some privacy.

Knowing what that meant - Natasha was trying, Sofiya turned back and gave the scarlet spy a quick hug and thank you. Natasha's eyes were weary and Sofiya would not have put it passed her to spy on them. Knowing there were only motion sensors and that Jarvis would only be listening if his name was mentioned gave Sofiya some sense of privacy. Still, if Natasha wanted, Sofiya had no doubt that she could hack into the motion sensors and watch them throughout the apartment.

But Natasha probably had better things to be doing, knowing that the spy had been neglecting her personal life while she helped with rescue and rebuilding efforts in the city. Even though seeing the destruction in the city bothered Sofiya she had never let her fears stop her before. But at the same time she was sadly happy that Natasha had said helping out in the city was not an option for her when she had gained the courage to ask about it. Natasha's reasoning had been that there was concern that Sofiya would explode if she was unable to control her powers due to the emotions of seeing the destruction first hand. Sofiya had nodded her head in understanding but sensed that Natasha would not have let her help out and just made another excuse if the situation had been different.

Now, faced with her apartment door in front of her, Sofiya hesitated to reach out and actually open the door. Energy filled with anticipation and excitement was practically radiating off her skin, but there was also a hint of apprehensiveness.

How would he act? How was she supposed to act? Afterall she did not even know his favorite foods or whether he preferred coffee or tea. But they had experienced the almost enslavement of humanity and stopped it together. That brought them close in some ways even though they were farther apart in others. It felt like the stages of their relationship forming were all mixed up and that left her without a sense of how to move forward.

The cold metal of the door handle against her palm helped satiate the sudden clamminess of her hands. Taking one final breath, she entered her eyes searching every part of the sectioned rooms of the open floor plan. The anticipation that had her fingers itching was not the only emotion overwhelming her senses now. His tall frame may not have been in the scope of her vision at the present time, but there was one surefire sign that he had been in her living quarters. The beautiful whitish-grey walls that wrapped around her apartment where now a shade of green that suspiciously matched Loki's eyes.

Finding that her feet had a mind of their own, Sofiya took step after step, her feet taking her to her bedroom. The door was open and she knew she had left it closed. She spied black sock covered feet crossed at the ankles, another step and she could see up to his thighs, clad in grey sweatpants. Her next step brought her under the doorframe and she watched as his eyes snapped open to latch onto hers, his bright and light irises contrasting with the black long-sleeved T-shirt that stretched over his torso.

His arms were crossed above his head as he rested on his hands. To an outsider, his facial expression would appear to be lacking any emotion, but to her, she saw the look in his eyes. Sofiya's heart stopped at the same time she felt her hands start to shake.

For the last couple of days she had tried to hold her emotions in check, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to break. Something about them just waiting, knowing that at some point she would fall apart only made her try and keep it together more. And the fact that others had forever lost loved ones weighed on her chest. Sofiya had gained more than she had lost, she felt guilty for feeling overwhelmed compared to what others were going through.

But now as she stood in front of Loki, something about having her eyes on him in the flesh brought forth all the emotions she was trying to hold down. The leash she had around her emotions was starting to fray and her tears threatened to make an appearance. His eyes were appraising her, not in the judgmental way he had done before, but in a way that reminded her of a toddler being forced to look and not touch a new shiny toy.

Taking in his appearance some of her worries dissolved, he was in front of her, in one piece. Sofiya's heart started beating in a regular rhythm again once she assessed him for injuries and saw none. Loki's eyes were tired but strong as they checked her out in the same way she was checking over him. His hair was damp from a recent shower and the clothes he wore, clean and fresh.

This was the second time she had seen him in what was considered normal Earth clothing. The first time had been him in a suit before they crashed the charity event in Germany. The suit he had magically tailored to fit his frame looked just as good on him as the leisure clothes he was wearing at present. Sofiya watched how the material of the shirt and sweats stretched across his lean but muscular body and decided that Earthly clothes looked good on him. Then again with a body like his, everything was bound to look good on him.

If she was not so stressed her body might have responded normally to seeing a man of his glorious stature relaxing on her bed. As it was, her natural bodies response to blush was pushed aside by her will to not let the weight on her heart and shoulders collapse outward.

His gaze held everything in it, even though she would have thought that impossible. Years of memories and experiences shaping who he was were reflected in the pupils that were focused on her. There was something else too, but she had yet to decipher what that glint was. They sat there in silence watching each other for a moment. Finally having a moment between them where the world was not going to hell and back.

Staying still as a statue Loki reached out mentally to her, a sense of tangible warmth washing over her mind. She welcomed it and her heart picked up its pace. Sofiya had forgotten just how comforting the experience of being connected to Loki was. Loki's shoulders visibly relaxed as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and raised his arms over his head and stretched.

Her eyes snapped to the flash of skin that was exposed as his shirt rode up. Her heart skipping another beat she wondered for its health; was her cardiovascular system finally at its wits ends with all the stress she was experiencing? Rolling her lips in an effort not to lick them she took in the tight skin stretched over the well-defined muscle at his hip.

Loki closed his eyes as he stretched, taking a breath into his lungs that tasted of strawberries and roses across his tongue before he once again opened his eyes and turned to look at her.

For the last month, all his thoughts and every step, even word that left his mouth had been calculated with a stone-cold precision. His mind sharp as it kept up with the many lies and different lives he had been living, different people he had been portraying. But as Loki took in the form of the human woman in front of him, all that fell apart and he found himself not hiding. The voice inside his head screamed that was a bad thing, a deadly mistake. The thoughts in the forefront of his mind could not be further from the voice in the back of his head.

One last glance at her he promised himself, his eyes taking in her curves as the edge of his survival instincts that had been raging over the last month calmed.

Taking in everything about her from her black sandals and dark denim cut off shorts to her short-sleeved coral shirt with a v-neck that cut off just within view of the shadow of her cleavage. Sofiya's hair sat in a bun at the top of her head and her lips were parted in surprise as she took in his form sitting on her bed.

Before he could move his thoughts forward, Sofiya was bounding forward with her arms open as she dropped her bag on the floor before reaching him. Loki could not help but cringe at the impending contact with another being. It pained him that he could not withhold that cringe as it made her stop in her tracks and drop her arms. Unable to look at her expression Loki looked down at his feet, he had decided to change into something that she would associate with comfort. Internally he darkly chuckled at the irony.

During his time on the run he had managed to avoid physical contact with other beings on all but two occasions. The first time he was not paying attention and brushed across someone while walking, his spine had gone straight and a wave of nausea had almost overwhelmed him. It had been all he could to keep the flashbacks at bay until he found a solitary area.

For years the only contact he had with others had resulted in pain and his bloodshed. During captivity, he had rarely flinched or cringed, only when they had kept him awake for what seemed like weeks at a time and he was too tired to hold back the visceral response to torture did he react. Now that the mind control that had been integrated through his brain was broken and the adrenaline of war dissolved, Loki was noticing the tolls his captivity had left him with.

The logical side of his thoughts understood that it would take a sliver of time for him to become adjusted to freedom again. The illogical side of his brain wanted to berate his mind with self-hatred for being too weak to overcome the effects of torture.

"It is not you," Loki paused almost too late to debate what he had almost let leave his lips so easily. It went against his will to admit his vulnerabilities, but yet when it came to Sofiya he had almost let them slip freely.

"Don't worry about it," he looked up as she bit her lip and shrugged before continuing, "I have taken the opportunity to learn what to expect after someone goes through . . . " her voice wavered off and she brought her hands together in front of her before she finally settled for leaving her hands by her sides.

Loki just watched her and Sofiya could not help but feel awkward, maybe she should not have said that. But she did not want him to have to explain himself, she was worried he would have trouble accepting the effects of what he had been through, she knew she was. Even though Loki had by all rights taken great care of her while she was in his clutches, some of the things she had seen made a lasting impression.

Sleep for her was an experience of tossing and turning and waking up constantly. In the moment her eyes had not even taken in how much death she was seeing, the lives ending in horrible ways right before her eyes. But now every time she closed her eyes at night her mind would bring up images that she could not even tell were real or imaginary.

Sometimes she would freeze at sounds and her mind would race, adrenaline pumping through her system and she would have to take a break and sit down if she could not shake it off. Only a couple times had a golden hue started to become evident across her skin. When this happened whichever Avenger had babysitting duty over her would tense and ask if she needed anything. All but Tony, who would just make a dirty joke and offer her a drink.

"I'm sorry for slapping you in the ally way. I feel horrible about it." Sofiya dropped her eyes in shame as her heart ached from her own actions towards him. Knowing that the aftermath of the battle she was experiencing was nothing compared to what he was going through, what he had been through.

"For a human you are not that bad," Loki teased her, "One of the reasons for this is that you do not let anything stop you from expressing what is going on in that head of yours. By all means, do not stop on my behalf." Sofiya was about to respond when he spoke up again.

"I just need to become desensitized to touch again." Loki was trying to keep his tone light. They both knew there was more than just becoming used to physical contact, it wasn't like Loki had been kept from touch during his time in captivity. Just that he had come to expect something else when touch was involved.

A movement in the corner of her eye caused Sofiya to look down and see the hand that had been resting on the edge of the bed reached out towards her own. Right before making contact, his hand stopped but did not pull back. The moment was so brief Sofiya was not sure if it had even actually happened as he continued to reach forward. Then his fingers wrapped around her right wrist.

The second their skin touched, her lungs took in a gust of air and Sofiya could not help but feel like an inexperienced, naive woman. Loki was an Asgardian god, and yes he was hot as hell but he was so much older than herself and in his eyes, she was probably still a child. Then there was the whole situation, the completely wrong time for her hormones to be wreaking havoc.

"I deserved the slap. Do not fret your mind over it, darling." Sofiya looked up as his voice grew softer as he continued, "I am amazed by how fragile you are, I just hope I never forget it." This time it was Loki that dropped his eyes as he looked at his fingers encasing her wrist.

His hand tugged on hers and she stumbled closer finding herself within an inch from making contact with his knees. Loki brought his other hand up to her right hand. His fingers trailed over hers and she tried to stop her visceral reaction knowing if she did not get a handle on things he would soon be able to sense what was going on in her head, that was if he couldn't already.

Loki watched as his own fingers delicately traced the path of veins in her hand. There was an urge, an urge to trace the pattern of veins all the way up her arm but he contained himself. He also had to put a cap on the other emotions that were stirring just from touching her.

Sighing to himself, a weight on his heart he did not know he was carrying lifted. His bodies reaction to reaching out and touching her was not as bad as the reaction to her reaching out and making contact first. Dark thoughts still swirled in the back of his mind, but they were pushed even further back from all his senses taking in everything he could about her.

His time away from Sofiya had changed him, he wanted to relish in every moment they shared together as he knew they would be few and far between for him. His craving for her was stronger than almost everything. The conditioning of his torture being the only thing that still haunted him when he was focusing on her.

Was he putting too much in her? Too much faith, too much trust? Coming to the conclusion in that moment that he cared not, the comfort of her presence too addicting to push her away. The grumbling of her stomach took him from his thoughts as he looked back up at her eyes with a smile shadowing his lips.

"We can talk while I make you the pancakes I owe you." Standing up he dropped his hands from hers only to bring one of his hands to the small of her back and push her towards her bedroom door.

There was another awkward silence in the kitchen as Loki set about getting ingredients out, Sofiya decided to just break the ice as Loki opened cabinet after cabinet looking for things.

"So, how do you know how to make pancakes?" She had no idea if they were among the common foods on Asgard, but even if they were the recipes had to be different than the pancakes from Earth.

"I looked it up on your computer while I waited for you to come back." His simple casual response brought her to a standstill for an instant.

Sofiya digested his words for a few moments. Loki knew how to use computers, the mental image of him sitting at her desk chair browsing the internet was a weird concept but maybe just because she imagined him with his helmet of horns on. Sofiya chuckled to herself and then felt a nudge at her mind.

"Yes, I can use a computer." The chuckle that followed rumbled through her mind and sent warm shivers through her. His voice was soft and gentle but then transformed into something harder and almost guarded. "Your human technology is outdated and frankly, materialistically wasteful in comparison to what other planets have."

Loki waited seeing if his mention of other planets would trigger negative feelings from her. Before the Battle of New York, he knew that she had been focused on survival and not processing all the information around her, like her planet being weak and vulnerable.

A surge went through her and Sofiya felt the need to get defensive about her planet. It seemed like travel and portals between other worlds was not uncommon. Here Earth was trying to come up with technology with no outside help … her thoughts finally caught up with her new-found knowledge.

SHIELD did know about other planets and beings and they had kept it from the public. There was no telling what else they knew, how ignorant she and the rest of the population had been.

"Speaking of SHIELD, are you working for them now?" Sofiya stilled at his question, he had been following her thoughts.

"You are obviously in my thoughts right now, can you not just find the answers to your question there?"

" _I am in your stream of consciousness right now. The mind is very complicated and that is something we can touch on after we eat._ " Sitting up a little straighter Sofiya was highly anticipating that he might be teaching her something later. The next words Loki spoke were lighter, less guarded. "And even though I could just search your mind for anything I wanted, I like talking to you."

There was something else he was not saying, something he left out of his words. Loki could take advantage of his telekinetic abilities, especially now since his time in captivity had helped him learn to harness his powers in different ways. With Sofiya, dare he say he wanted to go about things the old fashioned way so to speak. His time away from her had brought him to realize just how much he liked their conversing.

"I'm not working with SHIELD. I'm taking refuge with the Avengers, there is a difference. My dad kicked me out of the family, basically said I was tainted from being taken hostage by you. In translation, being connected to me was a liability for his campaigning." She shrugged and Loki stopped pouring batter into the pan to look at her. The look on her face was casual as she wrapped her hands around her cup of coffee but the wave of emotion that hit him from her was anything but casual.

There was pain and loneliness in her emotions. They touched Loki in a way no one else's emotions ever had, suddenly he began to feel anger for the one who caused this sadness in his human. Loki's hand clenched around the batter bowl and the next instant batter sprayed out all over the room.

Sofiya blinked in surprise but then did something that astonished him. She smiled and sent a wave of warm comfort his way. Loki's mouth opened as he took in a gulp of air as the feeling washed over him. He wanted to ask her to do it again, but it was a dangerous thing to fuel an addict, and he had long become one.

"You have been working on your control while I have been away." He forced himself to sound casual and to hide the quiver that threatened to sound in his voice.

That she would want to do that for him, comfort him in ways no one else had was almost too much for him. His whole life he had been taught to hide what affected him the most. If he was to be a good king he needed to become harder and not let his enemies see through him, see what they could use against him. At least that is what Odin had tried to teach him.

But the world that Odin had created for himself, wasn't sustainable. Loki had had time to think about the consequences of Odin adopting him as a trophy. Using everyone around you would lead to your demise, that is the lesson Loki had walked away with. As a child, Odin had molded Loki's natural mischievous nature into a manipulative one. Loki now knew this was because Odin thought he had his unquestioning loyalty,and was molding Loki as a tool to use for Odin's own devices in the future.

The wave of comfort that Sofiya had sent his way was pure with no ulterior motives, it had been enough to stop him in his tracks, make his facade falter. Then again, Sofiya was picking apart his mask layer by layer, and he was letting her. After everything he had been through he had always fought things that tried to get close to him and keep them at a distance. Even Thor, who he once truly believed was his brother, Loki would prank to keep at a distance.

Years of habit told him to push Sofiya away, but instincts were telling him to pull her closer. He wanted to change not for her but for himself. It was problematic, he only knew how to push people away.

"I've been doing what I can," she admitted, "Trying to harness my magic has been exhausting but now it only takes me a couple seconds to create a ball of energy." Loki enjoyed the pride that was in her eyes but it soon turned troubled, "I can only hold it in my hand for around half a minute before it dissolves. When it comes to things involving my mind I've not been very successful. On my own all I've been able to do is meditate and try to get a feel for things. This was the first time I tried acting on it, it's not like there are any people here I can practice telepathy on."

"How do you know you could use telepathy on others, not just me?"

"Sometimes I hear what I think are very loud thoughts from others around me. Sometimes it gives me a headache." Sofiya's shoulders raised for a moment before dropping and then she took a sip of her coffee.

"I constructed a shield that keeps your thoughts private, but I never anticipated you being able to hear the thoughts of others. I shall make adjustments until you can shield against them yourself." While they had been talking Loki had made a sweep of the room magically cleaning up any batter. Three spots remained and he found himself not wanting to use telekinesis to dispose of them.

Walking up to the stool Sofiya sat on, Loki looked down at the woman who even with the advantage of being on a stool taller than her own legs carried her, still had to look up to him to meet his eyes. Dragging in his breath with more force than was necessary, he raised his hand to hover over the spot of batter decorating her forehead. Their skin touched and a jolt went through him. It was filled with memories of pain but sprinkled with the sensation of velvet skin under his thumb.

Sofiya definitely needed to see a doctor, her heart was in jeopardy of stopping at this point. A tug came from what she recognized as her chest, but this time she was unable to contain it.

As his finger lifted from her skin Loki saw the imprint of gold left underneath, pulsing with the pump of her heart, a corner of his mouth threatened to lift. Fascination overtook him for a moment as he thought about the meaning. In his younger days, he had always worried about his magic betraying his emotions, just like Sofiya's was. Those with more training could have faked the reaction, but she was not.

There was a stirring deep in his stomach but he pushed it away. Loki could not give her what she wanted.

This was not the first time he had touched her and gotten this reaction. Though the first time it had not hit him as hard, he was not unaware that he had the same beauty that was common among other Asgardian males. It humbled Loki that after all the dark acts Sofiya had seen him commit that her soul of pure light still found him attractive. Most would only see him as ugly after what he had done.

"You need to learn to control your emotions better, the magic in you will feed off of them and give away what you are feeling if you are not careful." He said as he wiped the second spot off her nose and left another trail of gold. Loki was so close he could feel the heat coming off her body and he had to stop himself from taking a step closer. "Human men can be dogs, you do not want them, with a single touch, knowing you find them attractive."

Sofiya wanted to hide her face, hide the feelings that were played across the planes of her face. But there was no turning back time and he had already seen through her. Loki was not backing down and neither would she.

"And what about Asgardian men?" Sofiya's voice was shy velvet to his ears, even though she challenged him. Her eyes were anything but shy. This time the corner of his mouth did draw up, she would never cease to surprise or intrigue him.

"They would take it as a gift." He answered as he wiped the last smudge from under her lip before continuing, "Though as you are human, they would not act on it."

And he did, take it as a gift that is. Every form of unconditional acceptance from her was like a drug to him.

"Great, then I never have to worry about you taking advantage of me!" Her voice turned chipper and she sat up straighter, Loki tightened his eyes as he looked at her and tried to figure out what she was planning.

"Jarvis?" Sofiya turned her head and asked.

"Yes, Miss Marshall?" The autonomous system answered.

"Can you put in a pizza order for me?" Sofiya's eyes cut to Loki's for a moment before she looked away again.

"Of course, what would you like?"

"One cheese pizza and-" Sofiya turned back and looked at Loki expectantly.

"The same as you." He answered smoothly.

"Yeah, but how much do you eat?" Sofiya held her arms out in front of her in a circle. "Pizza's are like this big, do you need more than one?"

"One will be fine, I can share yours if needed." Loki did not want to inconvenience her.

"How do you know I won't eat a whole pizza myself?" Her eyes challenged his.

"Are you forgetting that I took you hostage, my dear? I have observed your habits."

"Hum, how daft of me for forgetting such a trivial event." Sofiya teased as she rolled her eyes and Loki found something pulling at his stomach as she flashed him an uninhibited grin in his direction.

Asking him more questions she finished up their order also asking Jarvis to order Natasha's favorite as well. The woman that had taken up root outside Sofiya's door had only crossed his mind once. Loki did not see her as a threat and saw no reason to concern himself with monitoring her.

A chuckle threatened to leave her lips, the world could come close to ending and you could still order a pizza. After Javis assured her that someone from security would deliver her order to her door, she swiveled on her stool and turned to face Loki, her knees brushing Loki's stomach as she did. This time his cringe was less noticeable, but it still there. Her heart ached for him. He took her cue and backed up a couple of steps.

Jumping off the chair she turned to Loki for one moment. Loki was still recovering from her touch.

"So help me - if you don't act like the perfect gentleman to her and live up to the good reputation I have been trying to give you - I'm going to withhold your pizza from you." With that, she turned and headed towards her front door. Swinging it open she looked down and saw Natasha slam her laptop shut and jump to her feet.

"What did he do?" Natasha's voice was crisp with judgment.

"Nothing besides ruining my pancakes," Sofiya answered casually and crossed her arms before adding, "Again."

"Oh?" Natasha asked clearly wanting more details on the first time Loki had ruined her pancakes.

"Yup. I need you to open the alcohol cabinet Tony locked me out of." Sofiya was trying to act normal but the sound of her blood running through her veins threatened to overtake the auditory part of her brain.

"Technically, you are underage," Natasha answered and glared.

"In America, not Russia. And since you're technically Russian." Sofiya drawled off knowing that they were not talking about opening the cabinet any more but spending time with Loki.

"No."

"Natasha I'm harboring an international fugitive, I need a drink." Sofiyas nerves were on edge, being around Loki alone for so long made her itch, but not in a bad way.

"Good enough." Following her into the apartment Natasha walked to the counter and set her laptop down ignoring Loki before she walked to the alcohol cabinet.

Loki's eyes cut to the laptop.

" _Don't even think about it._ " Sofiya breathed through his thoughts.

"Natasha this is Loki, Loki this is Natasha." How comical his human was, Loki smiled and tried to look non threatening as Natasha's head turned to him and she gave him a once over, no doubt looking for weapons.

"We've met," Natasha answered sharply before turning back to the cabinet, Sofiya turned to eye him making sure he would continue to play nice.

"Would you like to stay and have pizza with us?" Sofiya's mouth opened in an o-shape as she looked between Natasha and Loki. Loki was behaving much better than she could have ever imagined, he was behaving too well. Sofiya's suspicions rose.

The only human he wanted around was Sofiya but if she wished for this other human's company, he was not going to push Natasha away.

"I don't trust you." Natasha answered flatley.

"All the more reason to stay. You do not want me taking advantage of a woman as she indulges in drinking."

" _Don't talk like that! We are trying to get her to trust you._ " There was frustration in Sofiya's voice.

" _Correction, you are trying to get her to trust me, I could not care less, darling vexy._ " Loki turned to watch Sofiya's expression as she scolded him.

"If you two are done flirting telepathically, then I'll make our drinks." Loki saw as Sofiya's jaw went slack, she had obviously not told about their telepathic link, but he had not exactly been hiding it either.

Sofiya went to get three glasses out of the cabinet and without even glancing at the objects Loki filled them with ice. His reward was hearing the soft 'oh' fall from her lips.

" _Thanks._ "

Her responses enough to spur his civility on.

"Did you two have a productive day?" He figured if he referred to both of them he was less likely to get a response with an insult directed at him from Natasha.

Natahsa brought a bottle to the counter and got something out of the refrigerator, Sofiya tuned to glance over her shoulder at him as Natasha worked on the drinks.

"Yes." Sofiya clipped out before Natasha could answer.

"I took a guess and made your drink strong." Natasha voiced and turned to lean against the counter holding two drinks, one she held out to him. Loki took it making sure not to brush her fingers.

Unmeaningful conversation continued but Sofiya was just happy that the two were not trying to kill each other. They were now seated in her living room space, Natasha in a separate chair, Loki and herself on either end of the Sofa.

Suddenly Loki stiffened for a moment before relaxing against the sofa again. His eyes lazily catching hers and she caught the devious look in his eyes.

The next second the door burst open and Thor burst through carrying his hammer in one hand and pizza's in the other. She watched as his expression started out as one of friendlinesses, as he probably hoped by carrying the pizza up to her apartment he would be invited to feast. As much as Loki hated humans, Thor loved them.

Eyes glancing at Loki to see him smile welcomingly but his eyes were anything but, she then watched as emotions played over Thor's face. First surprise, then anger as his brows rose. All hell broke loose.

Natasha was on her feet in an instant, Thor threw the pizza's as he raised his hammer and charged at Loki.

Sofiya sprung up, jumping between the two brothers almost to late as Thor was suddenly right in front of her, and then he wasn't. An invisible force had slammed him through her wall and into the hallway. Damn, her walls were enforced with a two inch thick steel.

Thor wasted no time getting to his feet and facing Sofiya again but his eyes were above her head meeting Loki's eyes.

"Stop! And I thought Loki was the one I needed to worry about." She shook her head but saw that Thor was swinging his hammer. "No, no, no, no." She stomped up to Thor stepping through the rubble of her wall to dig a finger into his chest. Thor's eyes were still focused on Loki and his hammer was still swinging as he ignored her. Thor swiped her hand away, his reigned in strength still enough to threaten her balance. Sofiya lost her breath as pain radiated up her shoulder from her arm.

A flash or green and Sofiya found herself flush against Loki's back as he inserted himself between her and Thor. One of his hands reached back and settled on her hip to make sure she did not fall back.

"Don't touch her." Loki's voice was calm but contained a dangerous edge to it.

"Brother, do not pretend. You just tried to enslave humanity and you think I will believe you are concerned about a human."

"Sofiya, got any popcorn?" Natasha asked and Sofiya looked to see she was on the counter garnishing a drink she had made before she took a sip. Sofiya had to get control of this situation before it got too out of hand.

Clutching her wrist Sofiya stepped out of Loki's touch and moved so she could view both Asguardian men. About to speak, Sofiya paused, suddenly feeling a warm searching energy over her arm and her attention was brought to Loki as she felt a heat against her skin coming from him, his jaw tightened and in a blink his hands were wielding a dagger.

"Loki." Sofiya's voice was low as she asked for his attention.

Eyes never leaving Thor's Loki answered her, "He hurt you."

"And you can heal it easily, it is not a big deal." She attempted to calm him before blood was spilled.

"Brother-" Loki interrupted Thor.

"Do _not_ call me that."

"You would challenge me in defense of this woman?" Thor continued speaking as if he had not been interrupted. The brothers faced off, Loki towering over Thor a handful of inches taller than the dirty blond.

Sofiya watched as a muscle in Loki's jaw twitched and the brothers were locked in a silent conversation. Sofiya reached out with her now healed arm and gently pulled on his shirt, Loki impossibly tensed even more. Thor's eyes glanced down at Sofiya's hand before he locked eyes with Loki again. A moment later and Thor set his hammer down on the ground and bowed his head slightly to Loki who continued to darkly watch Thor as he tuned to face Sofiya.

"Sofiya, please accept my apology for harming you. It was not my intention. Knowing the difference in our strength I never should have touched you in anger, even when it was directed at someone else." Thor's eyes had softened but his shoulders were still tense and Sofiya got the impression that her acceptance or denial of the apology determined Loki's next move.

"I understand, Loki here has reminded me several times how easy it is for your kind to hurt humans." Sofiya unclenched her hands from Loki's shirt and slowly stretched her fingers against his side, feeling just how tense his torso was through the shirt. She also felt the twitch of his muscles under her hand.

"I also apologize for your wall. I would stay and help you clean up," Thor's eyes glanced at Loki's, "But I think that I have overstayed my welcome." Thor turned toward his brother, "Will you be here tomorrow?"

Loki was silent for a moment before he answered, "Tomorrow I will be training Sofiya." Thor nodded.

"We will talk at some point my brother." Sofiya watched as Thor left and then turned to Loki. Before she could say anything Natasha walked through Sofiya's apartment door and into the hallway, still carrying her drink.

"Well, I think that's about all the excitement I can handle in one day. I'll leave you two be." Natasha said already walking toward the elevator.

Raising her drink toward Sofiya, "I'll bring this back tomorrow." Once Natasha was gone, Sofiya once again turned to Loki. Their eyes met and she saw him exhale before he held a dagger clad hand in front of him, motioning for her to step through the Thor sized hole in her wall first.

A hand on her back steadied her as she stepped through. Turning back she glanced at him, "You're cleaning this up, right?" His response was to nod.

"I'll get the pizza, you get the wall." Sofiya's nerves were fried, her focus shredded, her emotions overwhelming.

She did not even remember cleaning up half the pizza mess, until she was brought back to reality by a hand covering hers. The brief touch grounded her and she looked down at his hand over hers. Her skin was gold, looking at her other hand she saw the same. The now familiar golden hue coming from under her skin was just another reminder of the troubles she had experienced. There was simply nothing left, she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Go sit down, I'll clean the rest." Taking her leave, Sofiya managed to make it to the sofa before she collapsed with her head in her hands. Her thoughts were racing, she could not focus on a single thought anymore.

There was a rustling of fabric as the couch dipped beside her. Closing her eyes she moved closer to him, felt the jolt that went through him at their first contact but Loki didn't push her away.

Curling up against his side she gauged his response. She could feel his steady breaths as his chest contracted and expanded again and again. Sofiya had never been happier that someone was comfortable. If he had shown any sign of being anything else she would have hated it but moved away from him.

His body was hard as stone but malleable under her fingertips as she laid a hand on his stomach. Trying not to think about the lines she could feel through his shirt, letting her know just how much lean muscle he had, Sofiya nudged him backward. Of course, she did not have the strength to move him, but Loki got the message laying his back into the couch.

Slowly, Sofiya followed, putting her weight on the hand on his chest as she adjusted and brought her knees up turning herself to face him in the process. Getting more comfortable she laid her legs across his lap settling her feet down on the other side of his thighs, so she could still hug her knees to her chest.

One of Loki's arms wrapped around her back and pulled her closer, giving her the comfort she needed. His other hand grabbed on to her barefoot and after a moment of hesitation, he began to rub his thumb into the arch of her foot.

As Loki sat with the human woman in his arms, he focused on being gentle enough for her. Realizing then that he had put so much effort into showing her that he could be gentle, and Thor had almost ruined that in an instant. Even as he thought back to that moment now that she was safe in his arms, it still angered him. The irony that his brother, the gentle giant had been the one to harm Sofiya, and not Loki, the savage and brutal frost giant was almost enough to make him laugh darkly.

He had been worried that she would withdraw from him after Thor's actions, any average sane human would. But then again, Sofiya was anything but average. Loki was just grateful that what she had been through had not changed her. Before coming back to her he had been worried that she would have thought of him different and not accepted him anymore, but now as she laid in his arms his heart let that weight go for the present moment.

Her emotions had been kept in a tight box over the last week. Avoiding sleep had been easy, there was so much to do between setting up her new apartment and cleaning up New York Sofiya guessed she had only gotten a handful of hours sleep since the battle.

The first sob was nearly silent but she knew Loki had heard. The tears came and Sofiya lacked the ability to stop them. The hand on her foot moved to wrap around her knees.

"I'm sorry." She choked out and Loki just shushed her.

"Do not apologize for this. You have been through more than most humans go through in a lifetime."

"Sometimes I like it better when you are an asshole." Sofiya tried to chuckle but it came out as a choke. Through her tears, she looked up at him. The lines of his face had relaxed from earlier and he was just watching her.

The last time she had cried in front of her mother, she had shushed Sofiya and told her that she was weak and needed to dry it up. When Natasha and Sofiya had gone to talk to her parents, her mother had just sat back and let her father make the decisions. Nodding and backing him up when appropriate, never standing up for Sofiya, her own daughter. Her parents were perfect for each other, always looking at things in a way to determine what strategy was best for his campaign.

"My father attempted to bribe Natasha a couple million to take me off his hands, said that I was tainted now." Watching his expression trying to determine his reaction Sofiya waited.

"My father abandoned me too." Loki responded quietly and if she had been anywhere else in the room she would have not been able to make out his words.

"Odin?" Sofiya racked her brain, trying to remember what Loki and Thor had argued about after Loki had dragged her out of the plane.

"The records on Earth are lacking." Loki looked away from her and she could feel he was reluctant to answer as his shoulders tensed around her.

Loki had to look away from her, the softness in her eyes almost too much for him. No one had looked at him like that but his mother. His memories were in pieces all screwed up, but at one time Loki believed he had trusted his mother.

"Loki?" Her voice called him out of his thoughts.

The Watcher had said to trust her, and Loki did to a certain extent. But he needed someone to talk to and work through his memories and thoughts with, someone to confide in. Sofiya was the only one that had so far accepted him unconditionally and if he was going to let anyone in, it would be her.

* * *

As always, thank you for reading and please review. The more of you that review the faster I will be at writing chapter 15, since I only have less than 1k of it written.


	15. Chapter 15

First I would like to mention that KatelynnBB started writing a story called Arrow To The Heart and it is a Hawkeye/Scarlet Witch pairing. I recommend it, you peeps should check it out.

To boeyyzoeyy : Thank you so much for your review. Not being over dramatic but my heart as a writer actually fluttered when you said this was one of the best stories that you have read on here. You also helped me stay firm to the timeline I have regarding how fast their relationship would move, I was beginning to doubt it wondering if my readers would stick around since it has been moving so slow but I wanted to do the characters justice for learning to trust each other and recover from things they had been through.

I have started to re-edit the chapters as my writing has improved since I started writing this over a year ago. I'm not changing any of the details, just adding more substance and such, making it more like the last couple of chapters I have written in terms of style, If you want, feel free to re read them as I update them.

One last note - as I update the chapters I am posting them to wattpad. My username there is Account SupportsLoki so please head over there and give the first chapter of Dark Star a vote and scroll through!

Playlist:

Jacob Banks (all his music is amazing btw) - Monster

Andy Grammer - Don't give up on me

JOHN.K - If we never met

I'm not a Saint - Billy Raffoul

Difficult - Billy Raffoul

Speak in Tongues - Machinheart

And finally a thank you to housesbabe1 who put up with my struggles on this chapter. You peeps should really give her some love in the reviews! This chapter would not be even close to as good as it is now without her pushing me forward.

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"Odin is not my birth-father. I was simply a reminder of the victories of war for him," Loki could not look at Sofiya as he revealed to her one of his closest kept secrets. This was a leap of faith that he could be misjudging. "Asgard was at war with my race, the Frost Giants. Odin found me on my home planet of Jotunheim. My birth-father abandoned me as I was of smaller stature than others of my race. Thus, I would have been seen as a sign of weakness of the king, as I was his son."

"You are a prince then?" Sofiya asked, her voice not showing any expression besides curiosity.

Loki nodded in response still not looking at her but instead focusing on his hand wrapped around her knees to rest on her hip. The touch was grounding him, keeping his thoughts from venturing too far into the void of his mind. He had never had this conversation with anyone before, at least by his own free will. Thanos had ripped the knowledge right from Loki's own brain.

Loki paused in his story for a moment contemplating if he was really going to do this. Give a human reason to think of him as a failure, a mistake even. But she had not run away yet, and she was going through her own struggles. He was not the only one with daddy issues, hers had just tried to sell her in order to get rid of her.

The realization struck him that his desire to tell her his history had more to do with just testing the faith of trust. Loki wanted to comfort Sofiya by showing her that she was not alone in her struggles, if she wanted to talk about it, he would listen and understand. It was this understanding that gave him the strength to continue.

"Odin raised me alongside Thor, pretending to groom me for the throne. But there was always something off about the way he did it, I was always second in consideration. Thor receiving the majority of Odin's focus and I was just an afterthought that he sometimes took pleasure in amusing."

Loki still had not looked at her, his focus still on their touch. His skin soaking in the heat of her body through their clothing before the heat traveled through his bloodstream. Letting the heat fully flush over him once, then blocked it with the ice flowing through his own body. It was a temptation he could not indulge in.

"Odin had just been using me as a reminder of his successful conquest. I was there as a thing to play with and in other ways a tool," Sofiya remained silent as she waited to see if he would say more.

It was not that he was ashamed of it, more like he was humiliated that he let it happen. That he had been blinded by a need to be king and not seen what was going on right in front of him. Loki was busy in his own head, coming to terms with the fact that he had just divulged such a truth to her that he did not notice how long it took for her to respond.

Her nod brought his attention back from the discomfort of his own mind. Taking in Sofiya's expression, Loki tilted his head downward to catch the attention of her drifting eyes. It crossed his mind to look through her thoughts to see what was happening behind her chocolate eyes, but for some reason that felt wrong.

Loki was so tense under her body, Sofiya was afraid he might snap in two if she squeezed him hard enough. The words he had just muttered still resonating in the center of her thoughts. That one sentence clarified many things for her. Stopping the onslaught of thoughts, Sofiya realized she didn't want to psychoanalyze him or anything like that. She just wanted to be there for him.

"One day, I'm going to give you a back rub to get some of that tension out of your muscles," Sofiya finally decided what words to say. Loki blinked at her and then chuckled, but it was a lifeless noise.

His eyes were slightly guarded and she had no doubt he was carefully thinking through every move and word that left his lips.

Physically he was there with her, but she could sense that he was battling his own demons somewhere in his mind. The wish to cast away those demons almost made her chuckle. Besides the fact that just pushing the demons away was just putting off the inevitable, he needed to conquer them himself, Sofiya knew his demons were more likely than not to be stronger than her own. And she was barely keeping herself together here with one single thread.

She could offer him comfort. But would he take it as comfort? At the moment, Loki seemed to be handling touch fine, but he was the one in control of it. Then again, he had told her not to hold back her impulses around him; she needed to stop overthinking her every move, but it was hard to do. Knowing he had been through so much and not wanting to trigger anything.

Unclasping her hands from around her knees, she took one arm and wrapped it around his back slowly. His muscles didn't relax even a little. She was about to take her arm away, but Loki made a slight adjustment to his position, making more room for her arm between the sofa and his back. Taking that as a sign that her touch was welcomed she unfisted her hand and laid her palm against his lower back.

They were quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.

"Have you ever met your biological father?" Bringing her eyes back to his after the words left her lips, Sofiya clasped her bottom lip between her teeth.

Loki's gaze followed the movement before he turned his eyes up to hers again. A deliberate blink where his eyes stayed closed fraction of a second to long. She watched as the planes of his face relaxed then his lids opened and revealed a pair of entrancing green eyes. The intensity was startling and her lungs compressed in a rush, her lips tingling.

In that moment his shields were completely down, she didn't need to reach out to him to guess what he was thinking, she could see it in his eyes. Sofiya had his full and undivided attention as he struggled with himself one more time.

It wasn't in his nature to freely give out information that someone could possibly use in the future to manipulate him. Especially after going through years of mental and emotional tormenting while in captivity. But as she looked at him now, she understood he was opening himself up in a vulnerable way, and he was choosing to do so freely.

There was a tug on her heart and and a warmth rushed through her, threatening to make itself known in her cheeks. Her hormones always chose the wrong moment to make an appearance.

But how was she supposed to _not_ feel a tightness in her chest when he looked at her like that? With his arms wrapped around her in such a gentle way. Knowing that he was having to, at some level, constantly think about his hold on her. The scene with Thor had only acted to be another example of just how much stronger Loki was than her. A simple tap or brush of his hand could probably cause at minimum a bruise.

"I killed my, as you would put it, biological father," Loki told her and took in the shocked expression looking back at him. "On purpose," he added just to see how she would react. Would this be the moment she finally ran away from him and not towards him?

"Oh," the simple answer and reflection in her voice told him she was not shocked but did not wholly know what to think of his words.

 _"Do you finally think of me as a monster?_ " The question left his thoughts to travel to Sofiya's before he could stop himself.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, everything is all twisted," she was silent before continuing, while he awaited her words with a dangerous need. "When I held the Scepter and had the ability to shut down the portal and save lives from being lost . . . I waited and stood by for the right time. I have blood on my hands. If that is what makes someone a monster, then I am one as well," Sofiya's tone transitioned to one of doubts and confusion to one of sureness.

Something in Loki's chest pressed outward. Here Sofiya was calling herself a monster when he viewed her as anything but. He would just have to pay her more visits to rectify her faltered thinking.

"I have killed in war, killed in cold blood, and killed for others. I think my qualifications for being a monster out weigh yours," his thumb gave a gentle caress along her hip and he caught her intake of breath in response.

Her response was not from fear but something else. Days ago Loki had wanted to hear her gasp in subservience to him, but now all he wanted was to hear that little intake of breath from his actions again.

"Would you ever kill me?" Sofiya asked him honestly as she leaned closer to him, expectantly awaiting his words. There was no fear in Sofiya's eyes as Loki watched her search his eyes and features.

Loki leaned in as well to meet her challenge, "No," his answer washed over her face as their breath intertwined.

"Not even if I had the ability and was making a move to end your life?" Sofiya adjusted her position to straighten her back, the muscles in her legs flexed in response and she was all too aware of the hard thighs under her own legs.

"Sofiya - " Her name was just a gust of air leaving his lungs. Sofiya could sense he was going to protest so she cut him off.

"Loki," taking her hand from around his back, she used it to help support her straight posture up by placing it on the cushion behind her. His hand stayed on her hip even as she pulled away a few inches to look at him sternly.

"No."

"Would you kill for me?" She saw it in his eyes, the raw power that had the ability to wipe out civilizations, the only thing stopping him was his even stronger will of mind that kept a cage around his abilities.

"These questions are pointless," she was getting to him. His voice was becoming more guarded, his eyes more closed off. Sofiya doubted he would continue the conversation and suddenly felt too close to him. Making a move to swing her legs off his, Loki released his hold around her, but before she could completely move off his lap and scoot away, his hand was on her wrist.

As she looked up at him about to protest, she saw a flash of heat in his eyes, "You have already witnessed me killing for you, and if you asked I would kill anyone you wanted to keep the blood off your hands," his voice was unfaltering and strong as it echoed off the corners of her conscience.

"I would do the same," Sofiya expressed confidence not only in her voice but also her gaze as she kept her eyes level with his.

Loki was fuming, his agitation coming from many different sources. But his hand was wrapped around her small breakable wrist. He forced the anger that was welling up inside him to the back of his mind.

"How could you possibly say that much less mean it, do not lie to me because you think it is what I want to hear," constructing the sentence in his thoughts, then forming the words on his lips took more effort than he would admit. He may have pushed his anger back, but he was by no means calm.

This woman was dangerous, his temper was usually well controlled. In any other circumstances by this point he would be strategizing and devising a way to get the most out of his anger. Not acting in the moment but waiting until the most opportune time to strike. But when it came to Sofiya, with five words, she somehow managed to bust his control.

"I'm not lying. You've been through hell and even though you gained your freedom again, your hands are still tied behind your back. If it came down to it, I would not think twice about killing someone if they tried to imprison you again," there was a fire in her eyes and he felt the static of her magic where his skin touched hers.

His own magic fought against his will, it wanted to meet hers head to head. Loki was unsurprised by the soft gold tint that began to illuminate her skin. Her jaw was set, shoulders back, eyes intent with conviction. A burning in his chest derailed his thoughts as the smell of strawberries and roses flared in the air.

Loki shut down his emotions and threw up an array of shields.

"Would you kill for anyone else?" Her question hit him hard and threatened to break down all of the shields he had just constructed. Loki let go of her wrist and stood up, needing to put more space between them for the safety of them both.

"I have no one else to kill for," Loki whispered against his own will, eyes fixated on his destination, his escape from the room. Loki knew if he took just one glance at Sofiya his resolve to leave might be broken. Not waiting for her response he began his treck to her spare bedroom.

"Then you're my monster, and I'll be yours in return," Sofiya watched as Loki disappeared into the hallway before releasing a sigh. The stubbornness that had filled her only a moment ago was nowhere to be found now. Her muscles felt weak and tired as she tried to get a hold of the magic that was burning under her skin.

There was a part of her that wanted to chase after Loki, she hated that they had parted on agitated terms. Sofiya had no way of knowing if Loki was suddenly going to decide to teleport away. Maybe she had pushed too hard? Now she found herself not just frustrated at Loki, but at herself too.

What she needed was someone to help her sort through everything that had just transpired, Natasha coming to mind. As Sofiya went in search of her shoes she spied Natasha's laptop on the counter and decided to take it with her. There was no way she was going to leave it in her apartment alone with Loki.

Natsha and Sofiya had grown close over the last week, after all they were the only two girls around the majority of the time. Pepper was often too busy with business to really get a chance to talk. Her steps faltered for a moment as she hesitated. They had never really talked about Loki in terms of anything outside of just recounting events. Sofiya had been sure to not mention anything that would allude to any type of feelings she had in relation to Loki, but that had been before getting to spend so much time with the spy.

-x-x-x

Natasha sat in her apartment with the blond Asgardian. After spending time with both of the men, Natasha could clearly see the differences between the two. Thor was brash and let his emotions lead his actions whereas Loki was less impulsive, never acting without already having decided the desired strategy behind what he was doing.

As it was, Thor was still pacing after more than twenty minutes of wearing down a path in her living room. She needed another drink.

"How can he just act like faking his death was not a big deal!" Letting go of a sigh, Natasha mouthed the words as he spoke them, it was the same sentence Thor had uttered at least a hundred times already.

"As I have said, maybe there is more to it than you know," Natasha was losing her patience and tried one last new avenue, "Have you ever stopped to think about how he felt and still feels about the whole thing? You have not been totally honest about why he faked his death in the first place."

"That is absurd, how could you possibly know that!" Maybe it was because Natasha had become jaded towards men after years of spying on the worst of the worst, but damn they all seemed so thick headed.

Just then there was a knock at her door and Natasha silently thanked whatever presence was watching over her, providing her with a distraction from Thor and his endless circle of thoughts. Thor finally stopped in his pacing to look towards the door.

"Jarvis?" Natasha asked knowing that the bot was always listening.

"It is Miss Marshall," shaking her head at Jarvis's response she thought back to how far technology had come in just a few short years. Natasha chuckled to herself and made her way to the door.

As the door opened and Sofiya's frame became visible, she saw that the girl was glowing. There was a soft gold hue being emitted from under her skin that had her look almost like a star. This had Loki written all over it, the man must have pushed all of her buttons to get her this riled up.

"Here, I wanted to bring this back before _asshole_ decided to invade your privacy," Sofiya's tone was flat as she held out the laptop for Natasha to gently take from her.

' _Loki can use computers?'_ She filed that information away for later use. Further assessing the girl in front of her, Natasha came to the conclusion that Sofiya was not simply mad, she was on the verge of being totally pissed off. There was a tightness to her eyes and a forced smile plastered on her face.

It was at that moment that Thor made his presence known as Natasha not only felt his steps approach her but after years of honing her senses, felt the presence of his body behind her back. Sofiya's gaze rose above Natasha's head and Natasha watched as the woman's smile got tighter.

"Thor, how nice to see you again," Sofiya's words were crisp and forcefully pushed through her closed jaw.

"What a lovely surprise, I never tire from getting to know you more." Thor's emotions made a complete one-eighty and Natasha was unable to keep from rolling her eyes.

"Come on in," Natasha held the door open wider and observed the girls body language as she walked. Her shoulders were straight and held high but her hips were relaxed. There was doubt in her mind Natasha surveyed. How much damage had Loki managed to do in the short time that Sofiya had been alone with him Natasha wondered?

The first time Natasha had noticed that there was something more going on other than a captor and hostage dynamic between the two was on the plane ride from Germany. Natasha had seen the way that Sofiya watched Loki, the look in her eyes. Sofiya's stare had lacked fear, edging more on the side of thoughtfulness and challenge. Not the typical relief and shock that she had witnessed from many victims during her career.

At first, she had put it down to Stockholm Syndrome. After all, Loki was a _very_ attractive specimen, regardless of his transgressions and Sofiya was a woman with eyes.

But that had been before Natasha saw the footage of what had occurred on the Helicarrier between Sofiya and Loki after Sofiya had been hit with the blast from Phil's weapon. As where Loki had guarded his emotions when he was in the presence of others, when he felt that he was alone with Sofiya he let his guard down. Even through the foggy security footage Natasha had seen the gentleness in Loki's actions as he handled the wounded human who had taken the brute force of Phil's weapon. Which the human, Sofiya, should have never even been able to survive in the first place.

It was only later that Natasha had taken the knowledge she had gained from seeing Loki use his abilities that she concluded the Asgardian must have shielded Sofiya to some extent from taking the hit. As far as Natasha knew Loki had never taken any action to protect a humans life besides Sofiya's, which spoke volumes to anyone who was paying attention. The man had feelings for Sofiya, whether or not he was aware of them was yet to be discovered.

There was also the surveillance tapes she had watched of Stark and Loki interacting during the battle of New York, Sofiya in the background. Loki had saved her from falling out of the window. If what Sofiya had told Natasha was true, at that point there was no need to keep Sofiya alive and yet Loki had. Then there was what had just happened only a short time ago between Thor, Loki, and Sofiya.

Loki had been ever attentive to the human as not only shielding her from Thor's tumbling into her, but then proceeded to come to her defense when Thor had harmed Sofiya. Natasha wished that she had been closer to the action, but when she had lost sight of them as they stepped into the hallway after Thor had made a hole in the wall, Natasha had lost her visual on the group.

Giving Sofiya a half smile, she left her with Thor. On her way to the kitchen the spy was glad that she had started to keep Sofiya's favorite flavor of ice cream around. Natasha didn't get close to a lot of people. As a spy, she found herself frequently betraying the trust that she worked to gain. But with Sofiya she had already gotten very close to the girl, taking her under her wing as if she was some long lost sister.

It had been a long time since Natasha had a proper girls night. Lately, she had found herself surrounded by men, and that was okay with her, but it just didn't fill the void she needed. As she had learned over the years, men had a very delicate ego and their pride was easily damaged.

"Did Loki leave Earth?" She heard Thor ask Sofiya. Natasha grabbed two spoons after getting the ice cream from her freezer.

"No, he is still upstairs . . . I think," Thor's question only added to anxiety that had started to bubble in Sofiya's stomach. She was pretty sure that she would have felt something if Loki left Earth but she was not completely certain.

" _Loki_?" She called out.

-x-x-x-

Loki sat on the bed in Sofiya's guest room. There had been a part of him that had been expecting, no hoping that the room would have some trace of her. But since she had just moved in and not spent much time in the room Loki had been disappointed. There was no lasting scent of strawberries or roses.

That disappointment struck him hard. It was not safe to place that much of his faith in one person, to let them dictate his emotions. Loki shook his head trying to clear it. No, he wanted to try, wanted to rid himself of the shadow of torture that palgued his mind and influnced his every move.

Getting close to Sofiya was a risk. So much of a risk that Loki expected to be let down in the end. She was so innocent and he was anything but, his thoughts bogged down as he tried to decipher reality from his manipulated memories. Those memories told him that trusting someone would always lead to pain.

Even though Loki knew his memories had been tampered with and that he should not trust them, it was still a constant struggle to fight against what he expected based on those memories. But he also knew that the longer he played into the aversions and actions that were consequential of his warped mind, he would stay in the clutches of Thanos. Loki had to fight it, had to stop being afraid of getting hurt. That was a hard thing to accomplish when he felt so lost.

With Sofiya, he wanted to take that leap in faith, trust her blindly. It was almost worth it to trust her, even if all his expectations lead to her betraying him.

" _Loki?_ " Sofiya's voice whispered across his mind in question. Instead of fighting the comfort that came with her presence he embraced it. Even if it was just in rebellion of what he knew Thanos had put in his head to warp his emotions.

" _Yes?_ " Loki asked back in response.

" _Just making sure that you were still here_ ," warmth threatened to travel down his spine at her words. Even though his last words to her had been abrupt, Sofiya still looked to him for comfort, he did not deserve her.

-x-x-x

Natasha walked back into the living room to see Thor watching Sofiya as she bit the side of her lip, looking at the ground.

"Tell Loki to get out of your head for the night," Sofiya looked up as Natasha spoke and after a moment nodded back in response.

"You can speak to my brother telepathically?" Thor questioned in amazement.

"Yes," Sofiya answered straight to the point.

"May you please ask him to speak to me tonight? I have a lot I want to discuss with him." As Sofiya processed what Thor was asking, she narrowed her eyes. It bothered her that Thor just wanted to use her as a means to get in contact with Loki.

"Loki is unavailable at the moment, I suggest you approach him yourself tomorrow," she said sassly. The sass was lost on Thor.

"You were just talking to him. Can you not just send him this message, please?" Sofiya shook her head and watched as Thor's face fell.

"Natasha has brought some things to my attention that I would like to address with my brother."

"I don't think that he appreciates it when you call him 'brother'." Sofiya admitted blatantly.

"But he is my brother, I do not care about blood relations. Loki was raised with me and therefore is my brother as far as I am concerned."

"That's the problem. You need to be thinking about what Loki is thinking right now, not just what you think," Natasha interjected.

"How could Loki not think the same?" Thor questioned, the desperation clear in his voice. Sofiya looked to Natasha and watched her shrug her shoulders before speaking.

"Thor, why don't you go get a good night's sleep and we continue this conversation in the morning. You've had a hard long day helping to repair New York, I think you deserve a break from stress," Natasha said flippantly.

"But how do I know I will be able to sleep with so much on my mind?" Thor asked turning his attention to Natasha.

"Come on big man, it's time for the girls to talk," Natasha pushed.

"Oh!" Sofiya watched as his features morphed into one of understanding before he turned to give a small bow to Sofiya.

It was then that Sofiya spotted the ice cream in Natasha's arms and licked her lips. Before Thor had even closed the door behind him Sofiya was reaching out for a spoon and a pint of ice cream from Nat's arms.

Natasha watched as Sofiya's lips lifted in a true smile, all her attention on the pint in her arms. Knowing that today had been an especially hard day for Sofiya, with her father trying to sell her and all, not to mention Loki showing up again and all that came along with that Natasha was happy to provide some sort of relief suggesting they settle into the sofa before continuing.

"What did he do this time?" Natasha was genuinely curious. She had witnessed a taste of the dynamic between Sofiya and Loki but knew there was much that she had not seen.

"He's just an idiot," Sofiya sputtered and Natasha nodded knowingly. It didn't surprise her that no matter where in the universe men were from they still held the same tendencies when it came to women.

Sofiya had needed someone to talk to, but it was not like she could talk to the small group of friends she had before all this shit happened. She stopped for a moment to consider if she would have even told her old group of friends about what had happened, Sofiya decided she wouldn't have. Most of the people that had surrounded her had just done so because of her last name, who her father was, and she knew that.

Lately, she had not found herself feeling as lonely as she did when she'd had more 'friends.' No one around Stark Tower cared about who her father was or even the new abilities she had manifested.

It had been made clear to her that she was supposed to just come to terms with everything that had happened and then if she wanted, and only if she wanted, Tony and Banner would run some tests on her, and even then nothing too invasive. It occurred to her then that she still would not have changed a single thing even though she had lost her past life. What she had now was worth so much more than she had lost.

"Because of him, I lost everything I thought I knew," Natasha nodded and waited, this was Sofiya's time to just vent and Natasha would sit by and agree. Loki had just been the last straw for the troubled state of her mind, Sofiya had been through a lot.

"But have I once voiced that to him? That I would rather go back to how things were before or that I despised him for what he had done to me? No, no I haven't. And yet he _still_ has the audacity to accuse me of lying when -" Sofiya cut off her words, not knowing how much she should say or not say.

"And yet, as frustrating as Loki is you still find yourself wanting to jump his bones," Natasha finished for her, a small smirk on her face.

"You know?" Sofiya was not as anxious as she thought she would have been. It was almost like a relief to have someone understand the situation without her having to explain herself.

"I don't think the others have pieced it together yet, but yes, I see the way you two interact. I thought I took 'flirting with death' to the next level but damn, what happened in that elevator after the New York battle had ended and they apprehended Loki. I thought he was gonna go at it with you right then and there," Natasha wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive way and laughed as Sofiya's jaw actually dropped.

Thinking back to what had happened, Sofiya at the time hadn't thought about if someone else would have read differently into what was going on. Afterall she just attacked the man that had held her captive for days, she'd thought everyone else in the elevator would have accounted for her behavior in those terms.

Then a couple minutes later Loki had disappeared as he took the tesseract and used it to teleport away. Sofiya had not even thought about what had happened in the elevator after the fact, because she was so preoccupied with Loki leaving Earth.

"Sof, the sexual tension between you two is suffocating, and that observation is just from the short time I have spent in the presence of both of you," Natasha stated as she dug her spoon into her pint of ice cream.

The doubts that had been circling around Sofiya suddenly came forward, "But he's made it _very_ clear, I am a human and he would never be attracted to that."

"Even I've seen the things he lets you get away with. Loki has a soft spot for you," Natasha looked down at her ice cream and shrugged matter of factly.

"He's like a thousand years older than me though," Sofiya blurted. She had not meant to relieve that piece of information, which alluded to the fact that she had, in fact, googled Loki.

"Never took you to like way older men, but then again I have even glanced once or twice at his tight ass."

"Natasha!"

"Just stating a fact. But being serious now, I think at the moment he's attracted to you, and just doesn't know it yet," Sofiya went to interrupt but Natasha held up a finger, "Loki doesn't seem like the type to go for looks alone. He is too smart for that. It's my guess that he likes a challenge and something exotic. That's what gets him interested, then once he's interested he starts to get attracted."

"I'm like a baby when compared to his age, and I have no idea how our age difference would matter on Asgard. It might make him a pedophile or something for all I know."

"On Earth, you're an adult," Natasha shrugged, "A consenting one a that. Plus, I don't think he would give a rats ass about how others viewed him and his relationships."

"Just for shits and giggles, let's say I believe you. How am I supposed to get closer to him when he just shuts me down each time?"

"How so?" Natasha was genuinely interested in what conspired between the two when no one else was watching.

Sofiya recounted the 'pancake event' that had happened earlier and once she was finished Natasha nodded to herself before smirking.

"You glow when he touches you?" A raised eyebrow in humor, Sofiya sighed and threw her head back against the sofa. "So, he knows you find him physically attractive?"

"But he has still shut me down on several occasions."

"Oh my dear Sofiya, he's just afraid of liking a human, I mean think about it, Loki was brainwashed to hate them, aka us. Then once he comes back to his senses there you are right in front of him. He just needs opportunities to figure out that he has the hots for you physically."

"So what do you suggest?" The corners of Natasha's lips rose in a devious smile.

"By the time I'm done with you, Loki will have no idea what just hit him." Over the course of the next two hours Sofiya and Natasha plotted ways to get Loki's attention.

It wasn't until Loki made his presence known that Sofiya began to panic.

" _Are you going to stay the night at Red's, or are you going to come back to your own bed?_ " Sofiya's mood took a plunge as she was suddenly conscience of the fact that she might not be the only one in her head.

" _Loki!_ " Sofiya exclaimed, " _Don't read my thoughts,_ " she replied back to him before trying to desperately think about anything else to distract him.

" _Relax darling, I know when I am welcomed and when I am not_." Sofiya could hear the amusement in his words.

Looking at Natasha in panic Sofiya explained what was happening in her own head. The scarlet haired woman just smirked.

"Well, do you want to go back?" Natasha watched as Sofiya bit her lip and nodded, rolling her eyes she took the empty ice cream pints and stood up.

"Well you better hurry back then."

Sofiya ventured back into her apartment to see a lamp left on, causing her to smile, he had worried about her walking in the dark. Smiling stronger, she walked to turn off the light then headed to her room. Loki had not made himself known in her thoughts since she answered that she was indeed coming back. Hopefully he had been being true to his words and had not been spying on her thoughts as she talked to Natasha.

Crossing the threshold into her room, Sofiya felt her heart leap in her chest. This was the first time that Loki and her would be sleeping alone and uninterrupted in the same apartment. Pushing aside the hormone induced thoughts, she forced herself to think logically. Nothing was going to happen . . . this time. The corners of her mouth started to slowly lift as she changed into her bed clothes.

If it was left up to Sofiya and Natasha's will, one of Loki's future visits would result with Loki and Sofiya in the same bed, innocently enough or not.

A wave of warmth spread through her suddenly as she crawled into bed, it had the distinct trace of Loki. Her eyes started to close against her will and she reached out.

" _Stop it,_ " she heard herself say even as she started to fall asleep. The last thing she heard before falling into a deep slumber was a maculine chuckle drifting across her mind.

Loki was attending to his and Sofiya's breakfast the next morning when there was a knock at the door. Loki left his post monitoring the eggs to go answer it. As he moved closer to the door he expanded his senses for a moment and picked up on it being Natasha. It was early for her to be showing up, no doubt checking in on the safety of Sofiya.

Loki pulled the door open with a 'thump' and glanced at her from toes up, taking in her casual jeans and t-shirt. Also catching the outline against her jeans of weapons strapped around her lower calf. No doubt the spy was hiding more.

"Well, can I come in?"

"Sofiya is still asleep. I would be a horrible guest if I just ran around letting people in her home unbeknownst to her," Loki answered instead of slamming the door in the humans face.

"She's still asleep?" There was a glimpse of something in the redhead's eyes but Loki could not bring himself to care enough to decipher it, "How late did you keep her up?"

"Humans and their pointless questions," Loki rolled his eyes and propped himself up against the door.

"Let me check on her, she never sleeps more than a few hours." Loki had already picked up on that fact the day before. That was one of the reasons he had been keeping her in a trance since she had come back to the apartment from speaking with Natasha.

Even though it meant he could not really get much sleep himself because he had to actively monitor Sofiya, if she genuinely wanted to get up he was not going to stop her. But that required that he stayed attentive to the amount of magic he was using to keep her in a dreamless sleep. Too much and she would not be able to push through it _to_ wake up, too little and the troubles of her mind would keep her awake.

The human in front of him crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. Loki debted how much energy it would take to keep her out and then how much it would take to just give her what she wanted.

Staying up all night had not been in his plans, but it was not like he had been getting much sleep in the last month anyway being that he was on the run. Maybe that was why he let Natasha into the apartment.

As she walked through the threshold, Loki cast an invisible barrier to the hallway so Natasha would not be able to bother the slumbering woman in the other room.

Loki closed the door then held his position as he watched Natasha approach the barrier then run into it.

"This is not doing anything to change my mind that you have killed her or worse." Loki caught it, the 'or worse' had come after death.

"I care not what you think I have or have not done to her. You will just have to come back later or wait till she makes an appearance."

"I have no reason to trust you, I could bring the wrath of the country down on you with one call. So I suggest you let me confirm that she is okay." Loki narrowed his eyes for a second, then shrugged before making his way back to the stove.

"And you would do that by waking her up to confirm she is not in a trance or whatever your imagination has come up with," even though his attention was not focused on Natasha he was still aware that she had moved to sit at the counter.

"Why do you care that she gets rest?" He knew he would not get out of this without admitting some sort of information. The redhead would just keep annoying him until he gave her a straight answer.

"I did some diagnostics and she is sleep deprived. This could have an effect on her immune system and I can not have her weak or sick while I train her," he shrugged.

"I still don't trust you." Loki sighed and proceed to ignore her as he moved to the refrigerator and took out a box of strawberries.

"Why did you come back?" Natasha asked as Loki rinsed the fruit before grabbing a knife and proceed to chop the berries into bite size pieces.

"You ask entirely too many questions."

"One call is all it takes," Loki turned his back and brought his attention back to the stove not worried about a surprise attack, he was far more skilled and experienced than her and she knew this as well.

"She needs someone to train her, I do not know exactly how our magic is linked," he shrugged as he flipped over the eggs in the pan, "Best to not let her explode."

"Thor visited me last night," she paused, waiting to see if he would react. Loki simply filled a bowl with the strawberries he had cut up before moving back to the stove to plate the eggs. Still not looking at her he turned around and set the dishes out on the island counter that Natasha was sitting at, "He won't be letting anyone know you're here."

"If you are fishing for any type of 'thanks,' you will not be getting it." This human was pushing too much but Loki knew if he did anything to her Sofiya would not be happy with him.

"I asked Thor what it meant when he asked you if you were challenging him in defense of Sofiya," a lesser experienced person may have twitched or such and let on that the words had hit on something, "He explained to me some Asgardian customs and such."

"As flattering as it is that you have become infatuated with me, I would rather you not be."

"As I had suspected, you marked her as your territory. Sofiya is off the market as far as any Asgardian men would be concerned," Natasha said matter of factly as she crossed her legs.

"Get to your point already before I decide I am bored and you lose my attention."

At this point, Loki was becoming very frustrated. The fewer people that knew he had a certain affinity for Sofiya the better. Her life was put in significantly more danger with just one person catching on.

"You didn't just travel who knows _how_ far to train her. Your investment in her is much more than strategic, it's personal."

Natasha was watching him closely. He brought his eyes up to hers and she searched his gaze for clues. Loki was giving her a dangerous look, a warning that she was treading on thin ice that might just break under her feet. The look in his eyes only confirmed her suspicions.

"After your little display last night, I might not trust you about anything else, but when it comes to Sofiya, I think you have her best interests in mind."

"How do you know my best intentions would align with what would be considered your best interest for Sofiya?" He was not denying it.

"I'm not so naive to think that the only thing that matters is what is going on on Earth. I know the forces are stronger than that, and I know you have a better idea of what Earth and Sofiya are up against. Sofiya's fate is now aligned with a story more complicated than those on Earth," Natahsa shrugged as she glanced to the hallway before looking back at Loki.

"Am I supposed to be honored you trust me in this way?" Loki scoffed.

"As long as Sofiya stays on Earth, you won't let anything _too_ bad happen to it. Thus brings me to a proposition I have for you on behalf of SHIELD and the Avengers," Loki doubted she had discussed her proposition with anyone else.

"Do continue."

"You get to keep the tesseract, promising you will use it to come to our and Sofiya's defense if needed."

"And what could you possibly have to bargain with?"

"Your face is not known to be linked to the battle of New York as far as the general public is concerned. We keep your identity to ourselves, you are free to come see her and even walk the streets with her without worrying about humans taking revenge."

"Why would you want the tesseract to stay in my possession?"

"You came to Earth for it with an army behind you, others will surely follow. But they will follow where the tesseract is, so if it's not on Earth, it is less of a threat, but this way it is still owned by Earth and we have the right to use it when needed. Well, more importantly you can use it to defend us since you know more about it and how it works."

"Does SHIELD or the other Avengers know about this proposition?" Loki asked as he took a moment to think it through. It would be a more dangerous situation for Sofiya if others became aware that he was visiting her, or coming back to Earth at all.

"I can't give away all my secrets," a smirk crossed her lips.

Loki's attention was drawn elsewhere as he felt the change in waves coming off from Sofiya's mind.

"She's awake," Natasha stated based on his reaction.

"MmHm," Loki waved his hand and the dishes he had used to cook were clean. The objects floated back to their places, the cabinets just closing as Sofiya walked in.

Loki looked to her form as she ran her hands through her hair trying to get it under control. The t-shirt she wore went down to just above her knees, the impression of shorts against the shirt fabric kept his mind from jumping to conclusions. Her feet were bare and her eyes still held the shadow of sleep.

Sofiya stopped in her tracks as her sleepiness finally washed away. It didn't surprise her that Loki was in her kitchen, but it did surprise her that Natasha was there. Sofiya glanced at Loki, wondering when Natasha had been let in.

" _She has not been here long, just wanted to make sure I had not skinned you alive or eaten your organs yet,_ " Loki's casual voice whispered across her thoughts.

Sofiya nodded and turned to Natasha, giving her the best friendly smile she could muster considering she had just woken up, "Morning."

"I'm glad to see that you got a good night's sleep finally," Sofiya shared a look with Natasha, Sofiya pursed her lips and tightened her eyes. Natasha got the warning to not start anything with Loki.

"Me too. Did you want to join us for breakfast?" Sofiya was not much of a conversationalist in the mornings.

"I think I'll take a raincheck on that. I just stopped by to see how you were doing," the spy said as she lifted an eyebrow. A couple minutes later she was gone and Sofiya was left alone with Loki.

Sofiya didn't want it to be awkward, but after everything she had thought about last night, she couldn't help but look at him in a new light.

"You cooked?" She asked innocently enough as she approached the counter.

"Well, I did have to feed myself." There was something in his expression that made her smirk.

"Of course, so then I will just make my own breakfast. I don't want to go eating all of your food."

"It would be a waste if I could not eat all of it," he hadn't given up in defeat but still found a way to show her he had made it for her. Suddenly out of nowhere there was an empty plate in front of her.

Acting like this was a normal everyday occurrence for her, Sofiya begin to fill her plate with the bread and eggs displayed before her before asking, "So, what's on the agenda for today Horny?"

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Review? (If you review I send sneak peaks for the next chapter :)


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Here is the next chapter, hope you all like it. Get yourself a snack and strap in because this ones over 10k. This chapter has actually been written since the day after I posted chap 15 but it was missing something, and I just figured out what that was, so here it is ready now!

As of late I have been getting many compliments to my writing and it's style so I Thought I would mention the two writers and their works that I always refer back to and hope to morph their styles into my own, the first is Nalini Sing (more specifically her books carassed by ice and heart of obsidion) then there is also the fanfic writer SlytherPouf and all her amazing stories.

Lots of Love and thanks to housebabe1 to whom edited this long ass chapter :)

Playlist-

Crawl out of Love - Illenium

Castles - Freya Ridings

Hold me while you wait - Lewis Capaldi

Triggers: a sad theme as she comes to terms with all that died in the battle and her parents not wanting her, at the end of the chapter the tail end of a fight scene (nothing to graphic)

Time and place stamps are absent from Loki's pov between her journal entries because it's just too complicated to calculate his perspective on the time he has been away since he is not staying on just one planet.

* * *

Loki peered at Sofiya from over the counter as she dug into her breakfast. The breakfast he had made for her, searching her thoughts briefly while she slept to see what she would prefer.

Her simple question had provoked a struggle inside his head, " _So, what's on the agenda for today Horny?"_ It did not escape his attention that she had used her pet name for him, but there were other things at the forefront of his mind.

Loki had spent much time thinking about how her first lesson would go. He had never really trained anyone in the art of sorcery, but he had spent hours and hours helping warriors of the Asgardian army find their weaknesses. How different could it really be? But Loki knew that guiding someone else into the other planes that wove the fabric of reality was not something to be taken lightly.

When his mother, _correction_ , mother figure had taught him, it had been an enlightening experience to say the least. There was something intimate about having someone close to you in ways that defied the physical world. What he was about to do with Sofiya was intimate on a level she, and anyone else who had not been raised around magic would never be able to even imagine. There was no way to avoid this intimacy with her, no way to know how he would react.

That was one of the reasons Loki had initially told her he would never help train her. Originally the thought of getting that close to a human had disgusted him. Loki reminded himself it had not been him that was disgusted, but the memories and emotions that had been brainwashed into him that were disgusted. Now that his mind was clear, the disgust was not directed outward, but instead, inward.

Loki had felt contaminated ever since Sofiya helped him to free his mind from Thanos's control. There was something perverse about the way his mind had been played with. Before he had been imprisoned Loki had never even known that he could feel vulnerability on that level, never knew there would be a reason to. What Thanos had done to him . . .

Images flashed behind his eyes and Loki found himself suddenly feeling the need to take a hot shower. Maybe he could burn the memories deep enough that he would never have to face them. That was not working well for him though, only making things worse. He needed to face his fears, face his past. That was the only way he would ever feel clean. Ever feel worthy.

Worthy of the trust that Sofiya had in him. Last night had changed him. It was his first memory . . . no that was inaccurate. It was the first pure memory he had to look back on of someone coming to him for not just physical comfort, but emotional as well. All the memories from before his captivity were tainted, corrupt with negative emotions.

Loki wondered if his existence before Thanos had been happy, not just overall happy but had he had any moments of joy? There had been a tightness of knots in his stomach ever since he had come to Earth. But as he took in the human woman in front of him he felt one of the knots lossen.

Thanos had tried to manipulate Loki's magic, tried to put his gritty hands around it and strangle it, force it do his bidding. And to some extent Thanos had been successful, but not completely. The only reason being that Thanos treated Loki's magic as if _was_ Loki's. Lesser sorcerer's may think they had tamed the magic in themselves, but that was a lie. A lie that would insure they never had the ability to unlock their full potential.

You could never tame the magic that was inside you, only work with it. It was when you started thinking of it as an equally participating partner that you were ever able to become a master of sorcery. If Thanos had had this mindset, Loki might not have even had the strength to hold on. He could escape to the magical plane and have a moment of peace, without that, he might have given up surviving.

Loki asked himself honestly - _Am I able to let her in? Let her into the only place that I find safe safe?_

He watched as she picked around her plate almost done with the egg. His head cocked to the side, she could have easily used her knife to cut away the crispy fried edge of the egg but instead she was using the blunt side of her fork. Sofiya's brows were furrowed together in concentration and her cheeks hollowed the slightest as she concentrated on the task at hand. The task that took up unneeded effort and time. One of his fingers twitched with the natural instinct to wave his hand and separate the crispy parts form the rest of the egg. Loki stopped himself.

From the time they had spent together he knew Sofiya liked to do things herself and if she wanted assistance she would ask. But that had not stopped him from wanting to help her, make things easier on her. But as she achieved her goal, he watched the little twitch in her shoulders as she sat up almost unnoticeably straighter with her goal accomplished. Her brows relaxed and the checks that had been tense with concentration raised in a self satisfied smirk.

So far she had only seen the parts of him that were messed up, the ones that were warped. Yesterday he had shared so much with her and she was still coming back for more. As he watched her pick up her knife and used it to cut a piece of egg white before she scoped it into her mouth he realized he wanted to show her what he could be. He wanted to give her another reason to wait for him to piece himself back together.

Yes, he could do this. He almost wanted to, to let her into the once corner of his essence that was not in pieces.

"You saw Thor without me present?" Loki asked as he placed his elbows on the counter and set his chin in his hands. From under his lashes he saw her choke on a piece of bread she had just bitten off.

"Hey!" she squealed and her eyes widened, "Stay out of my thoughts from last night!" That intrigued him.

Loki had taken a quick glance into Natasha's thoughts before she left. Not anything too intrusive just enough to see what Sofiya had been doing last night. He had only been focused on the memories Natasha had constructed of Sofiya, but he had gotten curious when he saw a glimpse of Thor. Loki had had to forcefully pull back before he dove too deep.

He cared not about what Natasha thought of her mind being invaded but he knew that Sofiya would not appreciate his actions. This was, after all, the reason he had invaded Natasha's memories instead of Sofiya's in the first place.

"I only saw enough to see that you talked to Thor," Loki shrugged and lifted an eyebrow in challenge.

Her eyes narrowed in response and she set down her fork before placing her palms on the table, leaning in with challenge, "I don't need your permission to talk to him."

Loki took a moment to appreciate the budding fire in her eyes, waited a moment longer to hopefully get a glimpse of gold specs in her eyes. There they were, utterly fascinating.

"I did not mean it like that," Loki reasoned simply. He stopped before he further explained himself and said something he would regret later.

He changed the topic, "I can only stay for a couple more hours. During those hours I will teach you the basics of the different mental, physical, emotional, and magical planes as well as the basics of what 'magic' is. We will also get you more accustomed to your magic and how it works."

"Wait - I thought the mental and emotional plane were like the same thing?" Sofiya asked as she picked up her fork again.

"No, they are not. But with my abilities they are linked, and since you inherited my abilities . . . anyway, there is a separation between them. Some people can only read emotions and not thoughts. We happen to be able to do both." A not entirely unpleasant wave of emotion traveled down his spine and settled in his stomach at the concept of referring to himself and the woman in front of him as a 'we.'

"So what is magic and how is it connected to these different planes?" Sofiya placed another egg on her plate from the platter he had prepared.

"First I must give a warning that some of these concepts are going to be well over your head," he was not being rude, just truthful.

"Are you saying I'm stupid because I'm a human?" Loki raised an eyebrow, Sofiya seemed to be on edge this morning.

"No, simply that some of these concepts are hard to wrap one's mind around and understand. Especially if you were not introduced to them as a child which then you would have integrated these ideas into your understanding of space, time and science. Thus I will give you an abridged and simplified explanation of things."

"MKay," her eyes dropped from his as they focused on her plate.

"The term magic is very lacking and it is important to understand that it can be explained in reference to many different levels of organization. For example, the Earthlings like to use atoms to molecules to cells and then eventually to organism, which can relate to the individual, then later moving up to the ecosystem and such. During this lesson we will be talking about magic at what you might relate to the organ system and organism level of organization." Sofiya still not looking at him nodded, so he continued.

"Now for an abridged definition of magic. Magic is essentially the practice of using different methods to harness planer energies. Planes, in this context, are like the different levels of reality. The co-occurence of these planes create what you would call reality."

Giving her time to wrap her mind around this new information he waited for her to finish her breakfast. When she only had a few bites left Loki got up and walked to her living room area. Sofiya lifted up her plate so she could turn to see what he was doing while finishing her meal.

His head moved to one side and the coffee table followed, moving flush against the wall. He took something out of his pocket, she found out they were pebbles when he threw them up in the air and they sat there suspended. She stopped chewing, watching his back intently as he moved.

The fabric of the grey shirt he wore stretched against his shoulder blades, the only indication to her that his hands were moving since they were obscured from her sight. He wore a long sleeve shirt again and she could not help but wonder if it was because he wanted to hide his scars. Did he still even have them or did they disappear when he broke his hold from Thanos? Her eyes drifted down to his waist and a blush threatened her cheeks as she remembered the way his back and abdomen had felt under her touch last night.

The stones started to arrange themselves in a broken circle around him, she wanted to ask what he was doing but didn't want to interrupt his focus. A rope seemed to materialize out of thin air between the spaces of the broken circle. It took only a few seconds for the gaps in the circle to be connected by this rope like thing, before the circle floated to the floor. The ring created was just big enough to comfortably sit two people.

"What's that?" She asked with food still in her mouth as soon as his hands had dropped to his sides. Loki looked over his shoulder at her for a second before turning to face her fully before sitting down with crossed legs in the middle of the circle facing Sofiya.

"As I have explained, the planes all exist in the same shared space, reality. The planes you need to be focused on at this stage are simple; mental, emotional, space, and time." he explained to her, watching her closely to make sure she was keeping up.

"What about the magical plane?" a corner of his mouth lifted.

"The type of magic that you have manifested is from it's own plane but magic also exists . . . you might best understand it if I put it like this. Compare the mental, emotional, space, and time planes to your kidneys, lungs, liver and stomach. The heart is also an organ but without blood vessels the other organs do not receive the nutrient filled blood they need to stay alive.

"The heart is synonymous with the magic plane. The blood vessels branch out from the heart when blood is pumped through them to other organs. The magic plane gives energy to the other planes, in this case organs, through a system comparable to blood vessels. Do you understand?"

"I think so. Essentially what you are saying is that magic exists as its own plane of energy but it also bleeds out energy to the other planes giving them the energy they need to exist themselves This enables all the planes to exist at once and intertwine to create the picture of reality?"

"Very good," he nodded, "It is also important to note that the magical plane is always present but some individuals may just not have access to it. This circle makes it easier to concentrate. The planes are forever interacting with each other, this will help to single out one plane of reality, making it easier to focus just on one without getting confused by the others," Loki beckons her to him with a single finger.

Sofiya left her now empty plate on the counter as she slipped off her stool. She walked towards him slowly, her eyes inspecting the circle and the space inside of it.

Her eyes snapped to his as she stood just outside the circle. Loki could not blame her for being cautious. Loki held his hand out to her and saw the look of determination flash through her eyes before she took a confident step forward, then another. Her shoulders relaxed once she was finally fully in the circle and nothing had happened.

"If at any moment you want to stop and return to reality just tell me," Loki added to help her feel more comfortable. It must have worked because she nodded and then sat with her legs crossed in front of him.

She was about to grasp his hand when he dropped it, "Different civilizations describe and teach magic in different ways. Earth is very far behind in understanding how it functions and works. They have some very unique explanations for it."

Loki glanced over her posture, in order for this to work she needed to be sat aligned with the pebbles. Leaning forward he paused for a second not wanting to scare her. Looking up from under his lashes to her wide eyes he addressed her, "I need to adjust your position and posture." He heard her intake of breath and then saw her nod.

His hands grasped her hips and a flash of blood, rock, and chains swept across his eyes, he flinched as the memory threatened to take over his senses. Bowing his head he left his hands where they were in a relaxed grip over her hips.

"Loki?" she asked and he could hear the worry in her voice.

"Just give me a moment."

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he felt her squirm under his hands and shook his head.

Still not looking at her, afraid of what he might face in her gaze, Loki easily moved her into position. Appraising her body once more he took note, she needed to straighten her back and align her spine. He reached out kinetically and pressed an invisible hand against her back. Sofiya gasped and he finally met her eyes as he leaned away.

Sofiya watched as Loki sat straight again, wonder and excitement filled her. She had no way of knowing what was coming but Loki being with her gave her some comfort. He knew what he was talking about and if anything came up she trusted that he could handle it. Loki cocked his head to the side and there was a push on her lower back and her knees came in contact with his. She watched as he nodded to himself after looking her up and down then placed his hands palm up where their knees met.

With one last deep breath she fit her hands in his. A tingle spread from where their skin touched and traveled up her arms. His jaw clenched and her eyes searched his face.

"I am willing my magic to travel through you in a beigne way, kind of like what I do when I search for injuries," even as he spoke the tingle got stronger.

Soon every inch of her skin felt like it was receiving thousands of weak zaps. She became hypersensitive to every place she touched Loki, the zaps warmer and stronger there.

"What do you mean when you say 'willing'?" The feeling was starting to get addicting, it was not quite comfortable, more like electrifying, but it was pleasant in ways she had never felt before. What started as an infinitesimal clean woodzy aroma with just a hint of peppermint grew stronger, suddenly Sofiya found herself immersed in the scent.

"Magic has a mind of its own. Think of it as each of us having a magic core, this core can decide to attach itself to us at birth or come to us later in life," as his voice reached her ears a wave of internal tingles traveled through her.

Her hands gripped his tighter as a restless need filled her, his grip was gentle around her fingers, not what she wanted. She squeezed his hands again and he finally tightened his grip somewhat. Sofiya felt his presence on the outskirts of her mind, he was hesitating and she wondered if he was asking permission.

"So we share the same core?" Sofiya questioned, it would make sense as she hadn't had these abilities from birth they had obviously come from the incident with the infinity stones. And since her abilities reflected his - it was a logical conclusion.

When Loki spoke next she was not sure if it was in her head or out loud, " _I have to connect with you one all planes, even though I am just taking you into the magical plane. If I do not, I will have to take all my shields down before you can follow me and that is too dangerous. This way I am surrounding you and cloaking you so my sheids will not recognize you as an invader._ "

" _Okay_ ," she consented before he answered her question.

" _From what I have researched, yes and no. I have not been able to figure out much, but what I do know is that there are six stones. The one in my scepter was the mind stone and the one in the tesseract is the space stone. I have not found any evidence to support this theory yet, but I believe all the stones are able to interact with each other no matter how far apart they are._

" _But I am getting ahead of myself here. I believe all magic is derived from the stones, but is able to separate itself from it's life source, the stones, and exist on it's own as long as it has something to ground it. Thus, if magical cores can think for themselves it would only be logically for the stones to be able to think for themselves, or as a collective body at least."_

" _Are you saying that when the two stones were put against each other the reaction created or birthed some type of magical core that then latched on to me?_ "

" _Almost, I think that it looked for the closest magic source aside from the stones and found me, which then somehow duplicated my magic core making it have a twin. It was this twin that latched onto you. There are many gaps in my theory as information on the stones is hard to find. I was only able to find one book about it while I was away._ "

It was taking a considerable effort for him to phrase sentences at this point. Loki was almost finished connecting them on all planes, the last one being emotional. His senses were already fully consumed by her presence in reality. He was acutely aware where they touched, as his magic created a circuit through her body.

It was not as hard to do as he had read about, then again he always found himself being pulled to her. It did not surprise him that his magic was being pulled to her as well. What he had not expected was the way his magic felt as it returned to his body from traveling through hers. The feeling was hard to describe. His returned magic felt stronger, more intense but was laced with Sofiya's magic. Her presence touched every corner of his being, but it was not enough. He wanted more.

" _One book in a week isn't too bad,_ " her words drifting through his mind as soon as she thought them but his comprehension of them taking a moment too long as he tried to focus himself enough to decipher the words through everything else he was feeling.

" _According to your sense of Midgard's scale of time I was gone a week. From my perspective, if you are still using Midgard's scale of hours and minutes, I was gone for a month._ "

" _Excuse me?_ " Wanting to see her expression Loki opened his eyes to see that her own eyes had closed. She was probably not even aware of closing them, just as he had not been. The visual stimuli of her eyes in reality would only get in the way of seeing the other planes. His eyes closed again on their own volition just as he had gotten a glimpse of furrowed brow.

" _Time works differently across space. That's a lesson for another time though, I only have so much time to teach you the basics in this lesson._ "

" _How old are you?_ " her voice was soft as it asked across the void of space between them. They were almost there, Loki thought in relief. Loki focused on securing their presence in the magical plane. Sofiya would not be able to get back to reality if he let lost is grip on her, even if he just lost his grip on one of the planes, she would not come back to reality as a whole.

" _From your perspective I am just shy of entering my second century of my first millenium,_ " he answered simply.

" _No shit_ ," her disbelief twisted with amazement flooded him in a way her emotions had never done before. Adjusting his grip on her, his jaw clenched as he rode out her emotions. His own emotional response was unclear to him as her emotions swept through him and overtook his own. Loki had to be careful, his grip on her was firm but if his emotions became more than neutral, he might overwhelm her and cause her to pull away from him.

Remembering that she had spoken Loki mumbled an incoherent sentence in response to Sofiya's words.

" _Damn, I must be like a baby compared to you."_ Sofiya thought, taking note of his incoherent response and putting it off to be related to his focus being taken up by guiding them to the magical plane.

Loki just smiled and shook his head, " _We must get back to work._ " Even though she had not seen him smile, she felt it.

" _What's next?"_ Sofiya was shocked to realize that the current flowing through her had become such a normal feeling in such a short amount of time. That being wrapped in a blanket of Loki was not how she normally went about living her life.

" _I will show you what magic looks like on its own plane_."

" _Isn't that a little fast to expect me to be able to do that?_ "

" _One usually unlocks more access to other planes as they train, you have access to far more magic than most beginners so it should not be that hard. Your teaching will be at an accelerated rate to compensate_."

" _Is that why I have such a problem with glowing when I'm stressed?_ "

" _That is natural to some extent but you do happen to accumulate much pent up energy faster than I have seen before._ " Loki answered and then he was right where he wanted to be.

So far he had been successful, he pulled her closer.

" _Okay, tell me what to do_ ," she said, sensing that they had moved onto the next phase. Loki pulled on his magic. He was able to see it but he doubted at this stage she could. Since they were the only ones in the present proximity that had magic cores it was not as hard as his training had been on Asgard to focus on just one.

" _I will guide you to my core so you can get a better visual. Focus on my energy._ " Loki had not been prepared for how it would feel to have Sofiya actively concentrating on their connection.

He felt as she stroked the space around her trying to find something to grab onto. Loki was surrounding her though, her fingers stroking him in a way that had never been done by anyone else. In that moment he knew he would never let another soul touch him in the way that she was.

Loki had been meditating for centuries, his focus perfect. But in that moment none of that mattered as his heart sped up, sounding like a frantic drum in the open space around their consciences. He felt her pause, she could hear it too, he had to get control of himself before it was too late.

Loki pictured himself standing in the vast expanse of darkness that wrapped around them. Astonishingly Sofiya appeared in the same way moments later. He had been expecting to have to talk her through putting her conscience into the form of a corporeal body while in the mental plane.

He reached out his hand preparing himself this time for her touch. She surprised him yet again, he had prepared for her touch not her soft expression. As she took his hand she smiled softly and ducked her head to look under her feet, he felt more than heard her question what they were standing on. He would address that some other time, her presence was eating away at his focus and he needed to stay focused on the task at hand, not getting lost in her no matter how much he wanted to.

They walked forward and a spark of green in the darkness got her attention. This time she visualized actually reaching out her hand into the dark space towards the spark.

The spark pulled her forward like a vacuum and she felt a rush of exhilaration. The sensation was akin to falling off a cliff in a lucid dream. Her senses calmed back down as she found herself encased in the essence of Loki. This time it seemed stronger than any other. She was dizzy with the presence of Loki not just surrounding her but flowing through her.

" _I am impressed, you must have been taking your meditation seriously in order to focus that fast._ "

" _Are you saying a human managed to impress you?_ " She was almost within reach of the spark.

" _No, just that I am a good teacher_." he replied, a smirk on his face.

" _This feels_ . . . " Sofiya trailed off trying to find another experience to compare this one to but she came up empty, nothing had ever felt like this before.

" _Intimate?_ " Loki offered for her, a shock went through her that had nothing to do with the magic coursing through her veins. The affection held within that one word would have been enough to make her knees go weak if she had been standing back in reality.

" _Kind of_ ," she answered quietly.

" _I should have warned you before we started. When you follow someone else into different planes it can have this effect. Like how when we communicate telepathically if one of us were to say chuckle in our thoughts it would feel a lot closer, more . . . permeable than if I was sitting in front of you and chuckled."_ The affection she had just heard was gone now, his voice taking on a more clinical air.

" _Great,_ " she said sarcastically. Sofiya knew the Loki had a lot on his mind but he could have at least taken a moment to prepare her for what she was about to experience. Her thoughts came to a halt, nothing he could have said would have prepared her for this. Sofiya could feel herself getting tired from all the effort she was putting into concentrating.

When she gripped his hand this time she had no way of knowing if it was in reality or not. If she focused too hard on the body walking beside her, it started to fizzle out of existence. If he left here now . . . she would be alone in complete darkness.

" _Sofiya,_ " Loki breathed out in a warning of pain and she loosened her grip.

" _Sorry!_ "

" _It is not your fault, holding my hand here is not the same as it is in reality. Here it is your conscience along with your magic that is doing the act. Physical strength is useless here. Just remember from now on that your strength here is based on thought not physical strength of muscle_." Loki explained and Sofiya could feel her cheeks heat up, she had actually managed to hurt him by gripping his hand to hard.

Loki chuckled as he flexed his hand slightly, just enough to relax any left over tension from her grip but not enough to lose hold of her hand. They were now standing in front of a green wispy orb as tall as he was and just as wide. The size of his magic core was arbitrary, it all depended on how it was framed in respect to level of detail Loki wanted to inspect it at.

" _Wow_ ," Sofiya breathed out in wonder, " _It's the same vibrancy of the gold that I glow, just green. Is this what mine looks like, just in gold?_ " Her attention turned to him for a split second, long enough for him to nod.

Loki watched her, he found himself doing so incredibly too much as of late, but he just could not pull his eyes from her. His will was strong enough to endure centuries of incomprehensible pain, but yet Sofiya with just one glance could weaken his will to the point that he would do anything she asked regardless of his own wants.

It was just them here, no one else. Here he did not have to worry about anyone watching him, he did not have to worry about anyone seeing how much of his attention he gave her. Suddenly finding his heart in his throat as he remembered this moment was only going to last so much longer, soon he would be cut off from her again as he ran away to keep her safe. For once he did not want to think about the future, he wanted to be fully present in the now . . . with Sofiya.

' _No one else was watching,'_ he thought to himself before he let lose just a fraction of the tight chains of control he held himself in with. The green light reflected against the side of her features giving a stark contrast to the absence of color that surrounded them.

Made it easier to notice the soft arch of her relaxed eyebrows, the delicate round curve of her nose that turned the most lovely shade of pink when she blushed. A pink that would spread from her neck over her angled yet fragile jaw and high cheekbones. The fragile human bones worked well in combination to frame her heart shaped face in a soft and femine light. This was also the same jaw that gave her emotions away when she would set it in frustration or stubbornness.

His eyes traveled to the most delectable pair of lips he had seen in his more than millenia of existence. This was the same bottom lip whose pout could drop him to knees, the same bottom lip that she would trap between her teeth in thought. He felt his own lips go dry and he licked them, his chest giving a jerk as he wondered what it would feel like to have that lip between his teeth instead of hers.

Sofiya's eyes turned to his and he found himself caught in the exquisite trance of her almond shaped chocolate gaze.

" _What?_ " she asked him and it took him a moment to pull himself together enough to come up with a response. Sofiya was dangerous to Loki in a way Thanos had never been, could never be.

" _I think we have done as much as we can today,_ " Loki's voice drifted across her conscious.

" _But I wanted to see what my magic core looks like and we haven't visited the other panes,_ " his eyes were drawn back towards her lips as he watched her pout.

He would give her what she wanted, just not this visit. There was only so much a man could take and he was at his limit. Being enveloped in her essence on multiple planes at once, having to hold her and himself together from falling off into darkness was getting harder as the seconds ticked by. He needed to keep control, normally he took delight in having utter control of a situation but he found himself wanting to let go with her, and that was dangerous.

" _You have achieved far more than others would have in their first lesson_ ," Sofiya smiled, Loki was being awfully complementive to her at the moment.

She liked seeing this other side of him, the teaching side. Her thoughts were shattered apart for a moment as she was pulled out of the magical plane unexpectedly and into reality again. Her thoughts scattered as she suddenly found herself light headed and dizzy.

Loki opened his eyes to see Sofiya leaned into him, almost in his lap. A smirk started to form across his lips but his thoughts dissolved as her lashes lifted and he was met with her gaze. There was that damned pink flush to her cheeks and nose, his eyes wandered and he saw the blush traveled down her neck passed her collarbones to disappear under her shirt. As his eyes traveled back up the way they had come, he found himself speechless as two words filled his mind.

 _She's beautiful._

Loki easily pulled his hands out of hers and a sense of loneliness came over her. She had grown so accustomed to having his touch, even since yesterday. What was she going to do when he left again?

She found out the answer to this question all too soon when an hour later he was gone. After checking the apartment she saw that he wasn't just gone, al; traces of him were gone down to the green of her walls.

She would wait.

 _May 16th, 2012_

 _Dear Journal,_

 _'Dear Journal'? I have to find something better than that, but hey, gotta start somewhere._

 _Natasha suggested I start keeping a journal to help me deal with everything that's happening and has happened. She told me that most of the Avengers do this in their own different ways. When she gifted you to me Natasha said it was fine to tear out and burn your pages after I wrote in them, safer that way._

 _I figured this would be a good thing for me to start doing. I've had a couple of accidents since Loki left. Every day since my lesson with him I've been meditating and trying to access my magic core. It's been getting easier, but that's the problem._

 _My first 'accident' happened when I was putting together a care package for James's family. I feel like I owe them something. James spent so much of his time with me, doing more than his bodyguarding job entailed. The day after Loki left, I looked into what had happened to SHIELD headquarters. Apparently, after I passed out from the infinity stones mishap, the headquarters imploded. James's body has yet to be found, still. His family put together a memorial for him, but I wasn't allowed to make an appearance._

 _Stark and Natasha were still monitoring the media for any details that were being published about Loki, me or anything else related to the battle of New York. Stark had been the one to tell me it wasn't safe for me to go to the memorial. Even though they'd not found any evidence yet, it was still a possibility that someone was waiting for the right time to release information about me and their version of how I was tied to things. For all we knew someone could have videoed me on the streets on New York when I'd thrown that ball of energy at the chitauri in order to protect an innocent mother and child._

 _People are angry and upset. It's still not clear to the public who was exactly responsible for New York and all those that perished. If images of Loki using his abilities surfaced and then images of me using magic surfaced, the two could be linked. Natasha told me we can talk about options, what to do about my pre-Loki life when I'm ready. Those asking have been told I'm in intensive care trying to have my injuries stabilized from what might possibly turn out to be fatal wounds. Natasha told me this would give me the opportunity to still be able to fake my death if I wanted._

 _Anyway, after that, Steve approached me and asked if I wanted to put together some type of basket or care package for James's family. I agreed. It happened as I was tying a bow. A pang of sadness went through me and before I could stop it, the basket erupted into gold flames. Thank god I had agreed to let Steve help me with the last details of the basket. If he'd not been there it would've been more than the basket that burned. It had all happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to suppress my panic, and Steve was able to talk me down. I still had a gold glow to my skin for about thirty minutes after, but I was just glad tiny flames had stopped outlining my hands._

 _It was after my third 'accident' that Natasha suggested I start keeping a journal. Natasha had already picked up on the fact that me going all 'shiny star' as everyone had started calling it, was related to my emotions, so my outburst must be too. Journaling is supposed to help me sort through my thoughts and emotions in a safe manner, and hopefully help with the outburst. Next time Loki comes, I have lots of questions._

 _Constantly,_

 _S.E.M_

 _P.S. it's been four days since I saw him._

Loki chose to spend the days after leaving Sofiya flirting with danger. He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but done correcty it coud be usefull. Even though he had only been able to track down two members of the Black Order, Loki had still learned some valuable information. They were looking for something, and if they were searching it meant they did not have what they wanted and there was a chance for him to snag it first. It was too early to assume that they were looking for infinity stones so he was keeping his mind open to other possibilities.

The first of Thanos's children Loki had managed to track down was Ebony Maw. The taste of iron coated his tongue just thinking about the beings name, there had always been so much blood when it was Ebony's turn to torture.

Ebony had watched Loki for minutes before he started his assault. Checking for Loki's weakest spots, seeing where he could target that would take the least energy but do the most harm. Ebony was calculating and liked to play with targets.

Even though Loki had spent much time in the presence of Thanos and his Black Order minions he had gained only basic knowledge of the beings. That was going to change. Knowing one's enemies was one of the first tactics a soldier learned in the Asgardian Army. Loki no longer considered himself to belong to that army but only an idiot would refuse to use the knowledge he had gathered while he trained with the warriors.

Loki had taken in every detail as he watched the straight spined grey skinned man. Following behind him to ask questions to those that he talked to would have been too much of a risk. So there was only so much Loki could learn about his targets. What he had learned was that Ebony Maw had somewhat of a special reputation among Thanos's ranks, he had never failed a mission.

The next member of the Black Order that Loki had stalked was Corvus Glaive. His torture sessions had been exciteful to say the least and included lots of taunting to which sometimes Loki would recipricate. There was always so much vigor in his hits, so much energy behind his whippings. Loki had learned several things of use as he stalked the man.

Firstly, he would forget to watch his back on multiple occasions, his focus easily being monopolized by the task at hand. Without his wife, Proxima Midnight, he was at a disadvantage. The sessions where the couple had teamed up against him were some of the most brutal he had ever experienced. The man was also arrogant as displayed by his inability to not taunt those around him.

Where Ebony had stepped forward and openly associated with other beings, Corvus had chosen to stay back and watch his targets. If Loki ever fought the Black Order all at once he would make sure to take out Corvus first. Not because he was the most formidable opponent out of the Black Order members, but because he was sneaky, stayed in the shadows, and would step in to fately wound while his brothers and sisters tired out their opponents.

Loki had only lost sight of him once during his stalking, and in those few tense moments he had worried about Corvus popping up behind him . . . the man had actually been slaughtering a family.

Later that day was when he had felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Someone had found him. If it was an Order member Loki's guess was that it was Proxima Midnight that was tailing him. Afterall, he had never seen the two far apart when he was in captivity, and since Corvus was near, it was most likely that Proxima was as well.

Several days of keeping to himself and trying to stay low later, Loki had found himself on Herc, The Watchers doorstep, again. It was the only place he had been to twice, besides Earth, since his escape.

Herc had of course seen him coming. Their visit had been brief as Herc warned that his hunter was closing in on him. In their short time together Herc had still managed to give Loki a sort of mission; a retrieval of a book.

The retrieval of the book was what had Loki's attention at the moment. Herc had not explained why he needed this particular book, he had not had time, but he had told him where it was located.

Loki's attention was focused on the guard in front of him. The being nearly three times as tall as himself, and ten times as wide. Loki waited patiently for the guards to change, the moment when he would make his move. He found himself doing a lot of that lately, waiting that is.

Sofiya's face flashed through his mind and the longing he had felt the moment he left her got worse. He had become attached to her against his better judgment. Most of his time these days was filled wondering how she was doing. Imagining what she was doing, filling her days with. He wanted to go back, but he knew he was being tailed and he could not chance bringing them to her doorstep, so he had to wait till he lost the people following him.

Jerking his thoughts back to the present before he got too lost in them, Loki waited for the right moment to spring forward and enter the library.

 _May 18th, 2012_

 _Dear Paper,_

 _That's not any better than when I called you 'diary' yesterday. Should I even keep trying to come up with some sort of name or thing to call you? Does it even matter?_

 _Note to self - ask Loki if I can use my abilities in a way to make it so I'm the only one that will be able to read or see what I'm writing in this notebook. I have yet to decide if I want to take others advice and burn your pages when I'm done._

 _Constantly,_

 _I should stop signing off with my initials. If I do end up deciding I don't want to burn or use other methods to destroy these entries, it's probably not the smartest thing, leaving my initials, a way to find out my identity in case I ever lose this somewhere. But then again I have already used other's names and using code names and other codes for things seems like too much work._

 _P.S. it's been six days since I saw him._

 _May 20th, 2012_

 _Dear Bitch-titties,_

 _I think I quite like that name, but then again it might just be the aloft, sarcastic mood I'm in._

 _I have not been writing anything too in depth in here yet. I talked to Natasha about this, I seem to be asking her for a lot of advice these days. Am I bothering her? I will have to ask her about it._

 _Back to the topic at hand. I do want to give this journaling thing a good try, I do need to find ways to help control my abilities. Maybe that's not the right term to use? I have been thinking about what Loki told me and I need to change my mindset about magic. I need to start working with it and not trying to just tell it what to do. But I don't think I will get much out of journaling if I don't open up more. Natasha says just to give it time._

 _Constantly,_

 _Bitchin'_

 _P.S. it's been ten days since I saw him._

The door to Herc's shop opened just as Loki had raised his hand to knock. Loki knew there was no need to knock, the store owner would have known Loki was coming. He had done it as a courtesy of sorts. The door opened just as his knuckles would have made contact with the wood. A weak smile pulled up the corners of his mouth.

" _Do come in old friend,_ " the familiar voice entered his thoughts. It was only the second time someone had been in his head since Sofiya, the first had also been Herc. He missed the soothing feeling of Sofiya's presence in his mind, Herc's was not as comfortable.

Loki felt the magic barrier as he stepped through the threshold, ' _this is new,_ ' he thought to himself and heard Herc hum in agreement.

" _Do you have that book I wanted?_ "

" _Right here,_ " Loki said smoothly as he pulled the book out from another dimension, to any bystander it would just look as if he had pulled the book out from somewhere within his brown travel robes.

"Perfect!" Herc exclaimed out loud, Loki flinched as the man's hand came in contact with his as he grabbed the book. Loki closed his eyes and tried to pull himself together. The only thing he had found capable of breaking his thoughts of captivity was Sofiya, and the promise that soon he would see her again.

The remembered pain from an old Thanos inflicted wounds eased as he pictured Sofiya running her hands over them. Once Loki had his flashback under control, he opened his eyes and narrowed them at the old man in front of him.

" _Oops?_ " They both knew it had not been an accident, " _You never did have time to tell me how her first lesson went last time you visited._ "

Loki did not want to talk about her today. Most days were hard enough with just the memory of her to ease his troubled mind. Today was especially hard though, he missed her - Loki cut his thoughts off before he started detailing what exactly about her he missed the most. Herc was listening.

" _Why must you always spoil my fun,_ " the man sighed as he moved out from behind the counter and Loki followed him to the back of the shop. Loki had to brace a mass of fabric from falling onto him from a shelf as he walked by in the tight quarters.

Herc set the book on a cluttered desk and opened it, Loki looked from his position at the corner of the table and saw that the pages were blank. Just like when he had opened it himself, he had tried every spell he knew to try and make the writing visible, but nothing worked.

The man waved his hand and Loki watched as writing appeared on the pages, Herc waved his hand again and the words morphed into a different language, one he could read.

" _Ah, yes just what we need._ "

" _And what is it we need?"_ Herc looked up at Loki as if he had forgotten he was there, the book slammed shut.

" _Oh no, this isn't your book my boy._ " Herc turned around and traveled back into the main part of the store, leaving Loki standing by himself.

" _Why did you have me go after this book when it was not the one I needed?_ " Loki asked as the man walked back into the space and set a new smaller book down on top of the one Loki had just brought.

" _So you would not get caught by Thanos again of course._ " Herc looked at Loki as if that cleared everything up. Loki still had questions. " _Oh fine, if I must I will explain. We both know they are close behind you, the planet I sent you to for this book has a plant that Proxima Midnight is allergic too. That should keep her busy for a couple hours at least_."

" _Proxima_ is _the one Thanos sent after me_?" Loki asked curiously in conformation wanting to make certain if it had only been one member of the order tailing him or multiple. Several times during his capvitity the woman had introduced him to means of torture he had been blissfully unaware of.

" _Yes, but that matters not. Right now we must focus on aligning up the events of your future_ ," he said trifling through the new book.

" _What information is in the book I brought you_?" Loki asked more directly.

" _That book is for Heimdall._ "

" _Heimdall?_ " Loki questined incredulously, out of all the beings in the universe, Heimdall was the one at topic.

" _Don't act stupid, it doesn't suit you,_ " Herc glanced up at Loki from scanning pages, he sighed and countiuend, " _Heimdall must start learning dark magic so he can save the Hulk and your family's life when the time comes_."

The mention of the Hulk crossed his thoughts for only a second before Loki got hung up on the other ones that would be saved,"'My family?" he asked in a whisper.

Herc stopped searching through pages to look up and face Loki. He watched as the man's wide and energetic eyes dropped along with the corners of his mouth, his expression taking on one of saddened guilt.

" _I have seen many of beings beginnings and ends and in betweens in many different versions of reality. But never have I seen a being's life end devoted to a selfless cause in every single version of reality,_ " he enunciated the last words hardly before continuing on in a soft voice, " _I have seen every version of your life, my boy, and they are all filled with pain, but your allegiance to those that hurt you the most never falters. In the end you always chose to stand by their side_."

Loki tried to make sense of what he was hearing. This man had seen his death, knew his life came to an end.

" _I am not proud that I stood back and watched what he did to you. But one day you will understand. This is the only life, the only version of reality in which you find true happiness. But first you had to go through torture like no other has experienced, otherwise events never would have lined up_." As Loki looked down and into the eyes of a man he put so much respect into he found himself getting agitated, knowing it was just a cover for his pain and sadness.

" _Why do you care about my life out of all the others?_ " Loki spat in feigned spite, Herc saw through him.

" _As I said, you are the only one who never loses loyalty to what you believe in, who you believe in but still refuses to blindly trust them. You sacrifice your own joy, putting loyalty above all else in every single life. No other being I have seen has done this._ "

 _May 23rd, 2012_

 _Dear No-Name,_

 _Today Stark and I came up with a game plan. The life of Sofiya Elizabeth Marshall is over, but the life of Sofiya Elizabeth Elliot has just started._

 _This morning Sofiya Elizabeth Marshal succumbed to her multiple organ trauma resulting from an explosion. Natasha had been the one to tell my parents what we were planning. According to her, she had phrased it as a question, asking their permission. But since I wanted this, if they'd not agreed in the end she was going to tell them they didn't have a say._

 _Oh how my parents would've loved to have had Natasha be there child instead of me. She can fake it like the best of them, but when she needs to be, she is a force to be reckoned with. If she ever wanted a career in politics, I'm sure she would be successful._

 _But they agreed without a second thought. Apparently, the idea had already occurred to them and they were going to get in contact with SHIELD about it when things calmed down. I feel a little angry, it was so easy for them to throw me out of their lives. But then again look what I am, doing the same thing. Here I have an actual family, though. Even though it's been less than a month, I still feel closer to Natasha than I ever did anyone in my former life. I've always had to keep people at a distance before, my father's orders._

 _When I didn't follow them and got too close to people, he would bribe them or use other means to get them out of my life. According to him, I_ _was_ _had been too much of a wild card and couldn't be allowed to build close friendships in case I divulged something he didn't want others to know. One day he further admitted it was because he didn't put it below me to purposely sabotage his career in politics by befriending someone and gaining their trust so much so that they believed everything I said. Then using this to my advantage to hurt him, my own father._

 _Maybe I should start calling him Mr. Marshal now? Afterall Miss Sofiya Marshal is legally dead, it just feels weird calling them my mother and father when they are milking their daughters' death for all it is worth._

 _I would never have done that to him. I did - and still do, resent him for a lot of things, but I would never . . . then again I have no idea what I would have been pushed to do in the future if I'd had to stay._

 _I digress, but I guess it's okay since this will only ever be a one-sided conversation anyway._

 _Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Marshal had no problem with Sofiya Marshal ceasing to exist._

 _. . ._

 _I'm tired. I was going to try and write more today about how all this made me feel, but I suddenly find myself drained._

 _Constantly,_

 _Tired_

 _May 23rd, 2012 - continued_

 _Dear Miss Marshal?,_

 _Maybe I'll start calling you Miss Marshal, almost like I'm writing to myself, but the old version of myself. I think that's what I'll do. After all, this journaling is supposed to help me process things, so why not write to my past self and let her ride along with me on the journey of discovering who I am_ _again_ _now._

 _Here I am again, my first time writing twice in one day. I've been laying in my bed for two hours now just staring at the ceiling. My thoughts have been all over the place. A couple of times they have come back to Loki. I know I have not written about him a lot, but I have some unclear reservations about it. It's not that it feels wrong or weird to write about him and my thoughts, just uncomfortable. Maybe I have not yet completely come to terms with everything, Loki kidnapping me, my new abilities, yada-yada-yada. Or maybe I'm worried that he will get a hold of this journal one day? Inspiration has struck, see I knew it was a good idea to open this thing back up today._

 _Maybe during his next visit (well his second visit, that is if he even comes back at all) I can broach the topic of my journal and reasoning behind keeping it. Then ask him how to put an enchantment or something on it so no one else can open it. I could put it in his mind and let him on his own terms think about starting to keep a journal. Who am I trying to kid? Loki wouldn't start keeping a journal, he's on the run, it would be too dangerous. Not to mention he might not be open about the idea of journaling even at all._

 _I'm worried_

 _It's been more than a week since_

 _We thought it would be best if all traces of my existence were erased. Natasha brought up the point that even if abandoning my friends and family was not going to be devastating for me, they would still be left with my memories. And it's these memories that could make them targets in the future._

 _I do feel a heaviness in my chest when I think about the people I will not ever be able to contact again, but I know I should be feeling worse about it. At lunch I talked to Natasha about this. She just shrugged and said when she left her life in Russia, all she had known, she had been looking forward to creating a new life for herself, a new image. She suggested that I was looking forward to the future more than I was looking back at the past, and that there was nothing wrong with this. No reason for me to feel any shame about not feeling worse about it._

 _Constantly,_

 _Thinking_

 _P.S. it's been thirteen days since I saw him._

 _May 24th, 2012_

 _Dear Miss Marshal,_

 _The missing have been deemed dead._

 _Constantly,_

 _Alive_

 _P.S. it's been fourteen days since I saw him._

 _May 26th, 2012_

 _Dear Miss Marshal,_

 _Today I accidentally stumbled across the exact number of casualties . . . I'm surprised I was able to avoid it for as long as I did._

 _I've been glowing gold since then, all day. I'm heartbroken. Under the number of dead, there was a further breakdown of those that had been lost and their age, family, and relationship status._

 _It hurts._

 _Constantly,_

 _Numb_

 _P.S. it's been sixteen days since I saw him._

Loki was on edge, he had left Herc's shop days before and yet the feeling of frustration had followed him. But he could not focus on that now. No, he had a job to do. Loki ground his teeth together. Here he was proving the loyalty that Herc had spoke of.

Asgard stood before him, but he was not back on his own terms. No, he was back to do an old man's bidding. Herc had promised this was the correct path of events to follow and Loki, in the end, had agreed. That was how he had found himself sneaking into Heimdall's quarters and leaving a book.

Loki had imagined his first steps back onto the planet that he had spent his youth on, but in all his thoughts, his first step onto Asgard had always been on his terms. Funny how life seemed to always have other plans for him. Loki's thoughts were cut short as he saw a craft entering Asgard's atmosphere. One look at the ship and he knew it was Proxima. Loki felt no empathy for the city he once fought so hard to bring glory too, if they could not fight off Proxima on their own it would bother him not.

Again Loki turned his back on Asgard.

 _June 2nd, 2012_

 _Dear Miss Marshal,_

 _Today the adoption fair finally happened. I know I've been writing about it some over the past couple of days, but I want to just one last time. There were so many animals left without homes after the battle, so many people had lost loved ones as well. I remember how surprised and heartbroken I was when I had accidentally/finally stumbled across the number of dead._

 _Then the sad surprise that overcame me when I overheard Pepper and Steve talking about how shelters were overflowing with animals. Some family and friends couldn't bring themselves to take care of their dead loved ones pets. Some people had simply left no one behind, had no one to take their animals. It still hurts to think about it much less write about it._

 _But I know I did the right thing._

 _After I brought up the idea to hold a several day long adoption fair to Pepper, she let me take the lead. I was glad for the distraction of having so much to do as I planned the event. Pepper convinced Stark to use a handful of the lower floors of Stark Tower to house all the animals during the event. There were so many . . ._

 _Natasha suggested creating a website and then writing a short biography/informational post on each animal. That way, people all over the country could be involved, since people all over the country had lost loved ones and needed to heal as well. I'd thought that this would take to many people. Volunteers were still needed to help clean up New York but to my amazement, a lot of people welcomed the opportunity to volunteer for the adoption fair. I had been told by some that it was something of a break for them. They were still helping, but in a way that didn't hurt their heart in the same way that searching for the missing . . . bodies did._

 _It was a huge success, every single animal got adopted, even the exotic ones. And because of Stark, I could rest easy knowing that all the homes were good and safe ones. I don't know if Pepper was the one to come up with the idea or Stark had come up with it so he'd have an opportunity to be distracted from the devastation of the battle (he has been hiding it well, but we all see that he is taking it badly) - anyway, Stark helped create a program to vet all the people that wanted to adopt the animals - making sure we weren't placing the animals in a bad situation._

 _Banner approached me afterward. I hadn't been expecting it because he has kept to himself. Once I asked Natasha about him because I was worried. She assured me he was doing okay, as okay as any of us could be given the circumstances. I think something is going on between Natasha and Banner but I don't have any evidence, just a gut feeling._

 _One of the vets that was checking the health of the animals before the fair found an anomaly. Banner had somehow gotten involved (he was not very forthcoming with the details of this) and found that the animal was not from Earth. After a discussion about how he knew this, Banner then assured me that the animal seemed to be harmless, then asked if I would like a new pet. He explained that even though he suspected it was harmless. He also wanted to keep an eye on it, but said he was not the best to take care of another living being at the moment._

 _I agreed._

 _Apparently, Einar (that's what I've named him. Steve came up with it, he said it means 'one who fights alone' and since I thought it was fitting, decided to keep the name) had looked like a kitten when Banner first looked at it. Twenty-four hours later, Banner walked into see that the kitten had morphed into a lizard. I still don't know what to think of this. Einar's current form is a giant 25-pound grey bunny rabbit with copper-colored paws. I've yet to see him morph into another animal, I guess I'll deal with that when it happens._

 _Constantly,_

 _Healing_

 _P.S. it's been twenty-three days since I saw him._

Loki had only been able to evade the spear wielding Black Order member for so long. It was inevitable that she would eventually catch up with him. Even though he was more paranoid than ever, only sleeping for what seemed like minutes at a time, ensuring no one would sneak up on him. Proxima had not gotten him in his sleep though, no she had gotten him when he had stopped for water.

Pressing his back up against the building and gritting his teeth, Loki relished the moment of peace. A tensing of his stomach that could almost be evidence of an emerging dark chuckle brought a wave of dizziness over him. His hand grabbed at his stomach, his hand came away with blood. Just one of the many wounds he had collected in the past half hour.

It was not just Proxima that was after him, she had brought her own little army. The thought amused Loki, he was not being underestimated this time. That was the problem though. Loki was skilled, even admired by some for his fighting prowess. But every being had their limits, and his was fighting a small army with a leader that was a formidable opponent in her own right.

Unlike Thor, Loki had always known when he was out numbered and needed to run, this was one of those times. He took no shame in it, self-preservation was one of his traits that had kept him alive all this time. Loki would be lying if he did not acknowledge that it crossed his mind for just a fleeting moment to just lay down and die, but then a single image, a single face crossed his mind and he found reason to keep going.

There was only one place besides Earth he could go where he might receive help. Pulling an image into his mind he teleported directly into Herc's shop.

"Just in time my boy," Herc said energetically as he walked out from behind the counter carrying a bag. Bloodloss had started to get to Loki's head but he was sure that the shop was empty of belongings even as his eyesight faded, "I've never been to Earth, this is going to be such an adventure." Herc said and came to grab onto Loki's arm, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

It went against his instincts to bring trouble to Sofiya's door step, but Herc was of the Watcher race. Loki might respect the man even though he might not trust him completely. One thing he could trust though was Herc's sentiment. Unlike the other times, this time It took a considerable effort for him to reach through the connection he shared and harness the energy of the tesseract.

 _June 5th, 2012_

 _Dear Miss Marshal,_

 _Loki's here. He brought someone with him this time._

 _Constantly,_

 _Relieved_

* * *

So what do think? Review please!


	17. Chapter 17

Important note: To all the people I sent messages to giving them specific points to watch for/be excited about, the location of those events have changed as I split the original chapter 17 in half since I don't have time to edit the whole thing. So if I told you about something in chapter 18 it will now be chapter 19.

Playlist:

Secrets and lies - Ruelle

Jacob Banks - Unknown

Trying my best - Anson Seabra (a very Loki song)

James Arthur - Falling like the stars

Triggers: mention of potential alcohol/sleeping pill use but gets help first, mention of injuries and blood

* * *

Sofiya was enjoying a nice cocktail in her apartment after a hard day of practice. The scarlet Avenger had been been busting Sofiya's ass as of late. Natasha had taken it upon herself to help teach Sofiya some basic hand to hand combat. Nothing too special, just foundational skills. Granted, Sofiya was not an amateur when it came to fighting with her background of defense lessons, but she was nowhere near as good as anyone she now found herself surrounded by. Thinking back on random events from the day Sofiya scoffed at how surreal her life had become.

Tony had designated a few floors of his tower to an Avengers headquarters, and Sofiya was finding herself spending more and more time there. That's where she had found herself at breakfast that morning. Steve had spread butter on her toast and offered her a friendly chat while they ate together.

There was something wholesome about Captain America, even though dark shadows followed him, he still managed to exude a positive presence. His idea of right and wrong was so strong, Sofiya envied him for that. Before everything happened with Loki she had been content with her morals. Then he came crashing into her life and changed everything.

Scenes were playing across the television but she was paying them no mind, one hand bringing the glass to her lips, other hand running its fingers through Einar's fur. The oversized bunny had been a good companion, always seeming to know when she was having a moment where she found it hard to adjust to her new life. In those times he would hop right over to her side, just like he had done tonight.

She was thinking about so many things at once and yet her mind still felt blank. Her limbs jittery with a restless energy that seemed to have settled itself over her shoulders over the past two days. Bringing the glass up to her lips once more she found it empty, a sigh escaped as she leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

Trying to convince the muscles in her legs to straighten themselves out from under her, she debated just going to sleep on the sofa right then and there. As she walked into her apartment a little over an hour ago she had been imagining having a nice glass of wine, then taking a hot soothing bath before finally settling into bed.

That was half a bottle of wine and two cocktails ago. Sofiya was sure Tony was going to say something to her, or better yet Steve about her drinking habits. Steve had this 'father air' around him and she could just imagine him approaching her and edging into a conversation about her drinking habits as of late. Hell, she was still underage, maybe she should just move to Europe just so she could drink legally. A lazy giggle left her lips and Einar poked her hip with his snout.

It was time to stop lying to herself, she was not handling things as well as she would like to believe she was. The journaling was helping at least, with the things she had decided to open up to it about. Another sigh left her, then morphed into a grunt as she forced the air out harshly through her teeth.

There was so much she was not ready to face, to come to terms with her past. Yet, at the same time all she wanted to do was move on from those events. Mainly her brother's death, it hurt to even think about him. Once she truly let go of her past life she could move forward, figure out what to do with her life. There was a nagging in the back of her mind that left a peppermint scent in its wake.

It would be so easy to just fill her glass up again and drift off thinking about nothing and everything at the same time before drifting off into sleep. But she knew she would wake up from some type of nightmare. They were not even realistic anymore but always filled with death and helplessness.

Sofiya froze, now standing on her feet she gritted her teeth. A warm, comfortable bed had not been enough motivation to get her on her feet, but the prospect of walking to the bathroom and consuming one of the sleeping pills Tony had left on her counter with a note was enough to get her ass up. Sighing on last time she promised to herself that she would talk to Natasha about her new manifesting dependencies.

Something smacked the glass out of her hand that she had been holding in front of her with the intention of setting on her coffee table. The delay of her senses, ensuring that she stood in the same spot for a few moments trying to process the scene in front of her.

Loki.

His lanky body was tight with the pain of landing through her now splintered coffee table. She was just as intrigued that he had managed to stop from going through her floor as she was about his wounds. At a second glance from his weak half-opened eyes down to the paler than the usual complexion of his neck, she saw all the torn fabric, mangled armor, and blood.

Sofiya dropped to her knees, a piece of wood cutting into her knee but she could care less, maybe it was the alcohol in her system, maybe it was the image in front of her. The muscles in her shoulders clenched as she heard a voice that was neither hers nor Loki's. Somewhere within the time it took her to process Jarvis's words she had looked up and settled her eyes on the older grey-haired and weirdly robed man on his knees mirroring her position, just on the other side of Loki.

"Sofiya," Loki breathed out her name and her eyes lept to meet his. At the sound of her name from Loki's lips emotions coursed through her all at once, none of them having time to settle over her before they were washed away to some corner of her fogged mind. They just looked at each other for a moment taking in the other before Loki added weakly, "You can trust Herc, I trust him enough."

Her eyes stayed on the man, Herc, a moment after Loki finished speaking. Tonight she would take his word for it, she was in no position to even have a brawl with the old man, even in her relaxed state she could see past the man. The face he was showing was a well-sanded facade. Breaking her gaze to glance at Loki's eyes before she scanned over his body, looking for the worst wound, she spoke to Jarvis.

"He is not a threat, the other's don't need to be made aware yet."

"Yes ma'am," the system answered as Sofiya was trying to remove the armor chest plate off Loki. It was not one that she had seen him in before, this one was brown and more pliable than the ones he had been wearing on other occasions. Its material was of a leathery metal, something she had never felt the likes of before.

A few months ago, her response would have been different, never would she have dropped everything she was doing to tend to the wounds of an intergalactic fugitive. Before the battle of New York never would she have, without hesitation, stripped Loki of his battle armor and plunged her fingers into the deepest wounds to see how bad they were. She still found the situation surreal, the alcohol that had been flowing through her system seemed to be dissolving as her thoughts cleared, and she narrowed her eyes at the man on the ground in front of her.

His eyes were weaker than she had ever seen, "What? I sensed you wanted to sober up." Loki said casually, but his voice was missing the usual edge it held.

"Ask next time," she quipped softly as she got to her feet, "I need to get some supplies," she mumbled more for herself than to him. She would have hated to be left alone without an explanation if their situations were reversed.

Walking into the room again, she glanced at Einar who was sleeping on the sofa, not at all bothered by the scent of blood that had taken over the room. Falling back to her knees at his side again she placed the basket of first aid and wash towels at her side. Her eyes jerked to the old man again, who was now sat cross-legged in the same location she had first seen him. There was a content little smile spread upon his lips, definitely a facade.

Cleaning the blood off his chest, she was glad to see the blood flow had stopped, even though the wounds were still open. She knew Loki could heal faster than humans but didn't know the limits to this ability. There were so many covering his torso, legs, and arms. Even though she had learned how to properly stitch up a wound over the last couple days she still didn't want to cause him any unnecessary pain, even if he refused to show it, she knew stitching him up would cause discomfort.

"So, do you have any healing abilities?" Sofiya asked verbally addressing the stranger across from her for the first time without looking up from what she was doing.

"Why yes I do darling-" the man began to answer before he stopped short and looked at Loki's face, she glanced up and saw Loki was glaring at the old man. "My apologies," he said while looking at Loki before glancing back to Sofiya and continuing, "I could heal his wounds faster than he can heal them himself."

She opened her mouth as her hands grabbed at her side for the disinfectant that she planned to pour on his chest and arms, where the worst wounds were, but Loki's voice in her head stopped the words from coming out of her mouth.

She had missed him so much, more than she had been willing to admit to herself. Feeling his presence wash over her, made it real, made it her reality. Loki was here and even though he was not in good shape, he was alive. Relief washed over her even as she poured disinfectant in his deepest wound and saw how his stomach muscles clenched in response.

" _No_ ," his voice stronger than it was on the physical plane, " _I can heal myself, there is no need for him to interfere._ " Her chest compressed in an instant as a weight was lifted off her chest that she knew would come crashing back down as soon as he left again.

" _Distrusting even in your trust?_ " She questioned with light humor, trying to diffuse the seriousness of the situation. Loki hummed in response before sending words her way.

Sofiya felt something in the corner of her mind, " _I need to place a specific shield around your mind before we can talk without being overheard by Herc."_ Her hands stilled on his chest for just a moment and her eyes threatened to glance up at the stranger, but she got a hold of herself and stayed focused on the task at hand. She was now wiping away the disinfectant from his skin to dry it before she placed bandages over the worst wounds that would take longer to heal.

" _I let you tend to me,"_ his voice washed over her suddenly.

" _That's because I don't give you a choice, you could tell me no and I would still do it._ "

" _Perhaps, my darling._ " There was a softness to his words that almost mirrored the tone of affection she had heard from his voice when he was teaching her . But Sofiya was hesitant to label his tone as affectionate in the current situation because it was easier for her to just blame it on the obvious blood loss he had suffered.

Unable to help but feel riddled with nerves from the situation, Sofiya was aware that the tension in the air was radiating from her, no one else was as stiff as herself. Sofiya could not help but wonder if the tension rolling off her skin was a testament to how much of a naive child she was when compared to the others in the room with her.

Loki had been through wars on planets she had undoubtedly never even heard of, been betrayed by those he was close to, his whole life being a lie, and lived through the horrible ordeal of torture. Not to mention all the other things that had not been broached in conversation yet that he had experienced. Loki knew so much more about life, other beings, and the universe in general than she did. Sofiya was practically a newborn babe when it came to her knowledge in comparison to Loki's.

Loki was stable, his wounds healing under her hands as she cleaned them, she could finally take a moment to assess the stranger in the room. Glancing at the old man who had yet to move from the spot he had fallen into her living room, she took him in. The man, she guessed she should probably start addressing him in terms of his given name. Herc appeared to be around seventy give or take a few years, but she had learned that looks could be deceiving when it came to age.

She could tell that his skin had once been a sun-kissed gold but had aged into a leathery brown material. The wrinkles around his eyes showed he had seen many things further evidence being the permanent state of tightness in which the underlying muscles had been in, causing the wrinkles. The tail-tale signs of a life of stress and burdens shown in his eyes was not present in the man's thin lips that were currently drawn up in a contentful expression, and yet the wrinkles around them had been caused by the same state of long term clenched muscle.

Herc had let go of the heaviest transgressions from his past that had weighed him down, but he could not forget what he had seen. She had learned so much about this man just by his eyes and lips alone, how much more could she learn by conversing with him?

"I take it you have known Loki for some time," Sofiya addressed Herc before she turned and grabbed a few pillows from the sofa at her back as well as the blanket she had found herself drawn to as of late and set them up properly on the sofa.

Herc took his time to reply and compose his answer. In this time Sofiya helped Loki onto the sofa and off the splinters of her table. Sofiya had already adjusted the pillows under Loki's head when Herc finally answered.

"I know many beings but have never met them, Loki and I have grown close over the last couple of centuries," at the strangers cryptically haunting words Sofiya froze and looked up at him.

Sofiya was not sure if her muscles had frozen out of shock or concern for Herc's mental state. Had the images that had plagued his emotions and marred his face through wrinkles corrupted his way of thinking or was he just an eccentric riddlesome being?

" _Both are accurate I believe._ " Just as Loki's last words across her mind had done, these triggered a wave of warmth down to her toes. It was a stream of silent static that contaminated her veins, rising in temperature as it spread to every corner of her body until her limbs felt like they were molten lava.

There was something absolutely provocatively enthralling about the warmth that had spread through her. She wanted to feel it again and again and yet if it was not Loki causing the reaction she wanted nothing to do with it.

The moment brought confusion forth to begin circling around her mind, but before she put more thought into the feeling she moved her thoughts to a different direction so Loki would not pick up on it.

" _He has his moments of clarity where his words are more straightforward, other moments he speaks in riddles so complex it takes even me a second to decipher them_ ," Loki continued after a moment and her eyes traveled to his for the briefest of instants before locking back onto Herc.

"This is remarkable, witnessing the seemingly impossible but present union of two cores," Hercs eyes widened a moment in a look of one experiencing intellectual pleasure. Sofiya found that there was something familiar in that look, she turned to look at Loki and rolled her eyes over the expression that currently showed no hint of his thoughts.

"You told him?" Sofiya question aloud to Loki who closed his eyes slowly in an annoyed manner and took a second to open them again, in which that time she observed a twitch in the hollows of his cheek.

" _I did not have to, he knew before the events in question had even unfolded._ " Loki answered in her mind and there was a tug at her heart. Without him even voicing it she knew he was avoiding talking out loud because he was still too tired to hide the effects of the wounds scattered across his body were having on him. She was curious about how he had obtained such wounds but no was not the time to inquire of her questions.

"Are you some type of fortune teller?" Sofiya asked, curiosity making itself known in her tone.

"Ah, if only that was the case, then I could drink tea and rid myself of my knowledge. No, my -" Herc stopped speaking mid sentence as if something had just occurred to him. She watched closely as the two men's eyes met before Herc smiled and nodded then looked up to focus on her own eyes again.

"No, my _dear_ I see everything from all realities from all times." Herc stressed his enunciation of the word 'dear' to the point that Sofiya had no doubt whatever the men's silent conversation had been involved the use of the word 'dear'

" _How come you are straightforward with Sofiya about your race but not with me? I was forced to string together the most infinitesimal of hints dropped over hundreds of meetings with you and even then when I had a substantial amount of evidence and you still refused to outright confirm it._ " Loki expressed flippantly but Sofiya could tell by the control of his voice he was hiding the fact that he was bothered to some extent.

" _The time was against you, it is not for her_." Herc replied as though it was obvious and Loki had just been blind.

Sofiya narrowed her eyes at the two men and suddenly realized none had spoken aloud, both men's words had been said in her head. There was a statement of denial about what was happening on the tip of her tongue but at the last second Sofiya decided to just shrug her shoulders and go with it.

As soon as Loki realized what he had done, his eyes leapt to gauge Sofiya's reaction. It was not uncommon when multiple telepaths got together to communicate strictly on the mental plane but Sofiya had no reason to be prepared for a threeway telepathic conversation. He had pulled her in, not guided her, not teaching her how to sense the hidden network and enter it on her own.

There was a bit of a shock to his system as he came to terms with the fact that he had just pulled her into the threeway network. Among the mannored telepaths of his caliber one never forced or manipulated the minds of those they respected into another domain. Not unless they shared more than privileges given only to each other and no one else.

Sofiya focused in on what was happening in her mind. She was aware of the tether that linked her thoughts to Loki's. It was always present but he did something to obscure it from her reach when he left Earth. He was here now though and as such, she felt the deep rooted drawl of the tug at her subconscious when she focused enough.

She had grown to associate their mental communication with that tether, but what was happening now was different. Sofiya tried to interject herself into the conversation but her thoughts were not as naturally carried forward as they were between Loki and herself.

" _Think of it as different frequencies,_ " Loki's voice drifted through her mind and it took Sofiya no time at all to feel that his whispers had come from the pull between them and not the unnatural feeling threeway conversation. He was talking to her and her alone. " _As if you are listening to several radios at the same time, just on different frequencies. You cannot focus or comprehend what they are saying all at once but when you concentrate on just one you can understand it_."

Sofiya hummed in understanding just as she felt more than heard a fuzziness in her brain, placing more concentration than she had thought it would take she switched her focus to a different 'frequency' as Loki had called it.

" _You need to rest, you have only a sliver of time you can spare before you must leave, I can only keep her derailed from your scent for so long_." Herc was saying and Sofiya could not help but compare how his voice felt in her mind versus Loki's. Herc's was not necessarily unsettling as it was uncomfortable as it drifted across her own thoughts. Loki's presence was welcomed, something she even craved at times.

" _Who is this woman we are talking about?_ " Sofiya asked this time able to push her words out and broadcast them.

" _Someone I hope you never come face to face with,_ " Loki said darkly and she felt a tug and suddenly it was just her alone with Loki again on the mental plane.

"Well, I think I will go have an enlightening talk with Dr. Bruce Banner now." Herc said happily as he easily got to his feet and purposefully blinked, and the little bit of Loki's blood that had adorned his clothes were gone.

Before he turned from them Herc looked to the sofa behind Sofiya's back and addressed what could only be Einar, "It is a pleasure to be graced with your presence, " Herc held his hand out then brought it to his stomach as he started to bow, "It seems other beings are beginning to feel the ripples caused by the union."

"Is that really necessary?" She asked not even approaching the subject of how much he knew about Bruce and how exactly he had gained the information.

"Herc is a force almost as strong as your own will Sofiya," Loki sighed and her eyes were brought back to his.

"But what if -" Sofiya stopped speaking as Loki pulled himself up from his horizontal position with a bit of effort, by this time the door had already closed behind Herc as he left her apartment.

Once settled beside her, Loki pressed his bare back against the edge of the sofa and leaned his head forward into his hands that were being propped up by his elbows on a set of thighs clad in torn fabric. All thoughts of Herc promptly left her mind as she, for the second time, took in the beautiful network of ink adorning his back.

Her view was limited from their position but that did not deter her from soaking in the sight as much as she could. This was the closest point she had been able to see it from yet and she was not going to let the opportunity to inspect it go to waste.

While Loki rested beside her she repositioned herself a little to get a better look. The dark lines were an array of thin and bold, but each was still prominent. At first glance of his tattoo, all those weeks ago in the kitchen that had formerly belonged to the family Loki had unhesitantly slayed, she had thought it to be a black trail of inked lines. Upon closer inspection that appeared to not be the case, there were hints of color accenting the black, as if instead of a shadow devoid of color, the shadows were made of the most beautiful colors. The accented dull and contrasting vibrant slivers of baby blue, deep purple, and gleaming green decorating the soft curves and corners of the lines somehow fit what of his personality she had seen.

The subtle colors only added to the magnificence of the work in a way that was indescribable. After a moment Sofiya realized why, the ink was coursing with magic. The visual impact of the ink further heightened by the hum of power radiating off the lines.

Her fingers twitched as she quelled the impulse to reach out and trace the vines framing his shoulders, the hilts of the crossed daggers just visible on his shoulder blade that was within her sight, she knew there would be a matching set atop the other bones twin. She could just see one of the heads of the identical two beast from a land unknown to her and its challenging gaze permanently locked on its counterpart.

To her disappointment the most impressive detail of the beasts' expressions were obscured from her sight as his back pressed against the edge of the sofa.

Sucking in a breathe Sofiya turned her head from the beautiful art adorning his back. If she did not look away now she might do something that was uninvited. Getting up from her spot Sofiya looked down at Loki who had not moved.

"Well, seems we only have a short time together. Hopefully it will be enough time for me to make you a warm meal at least." Loki nodded slightly, his head still in his hands. Now that Herc was gone Loki was not hiding how much of a not just physical but mental toll his wounds had taken on him. Sofiya wanted to check how the worst gashes were healing but she took steps to the kitchen instead.

"If you want, you can take a shower. I know you probably have access to an extra set of clothes, but just in case I stocked up on a couple articles of clothing that should fit you. There're in the spare room," Sofiya offered aloud without turning to look at him.

Loki sighed once Sofiya was out of eavesdropping distance. Teleporting not just once but twice across the universe in the condition he was in was not ideal, especially since one of the trips had been carrying another. Loki could of course teleport small distances without even the slightest hint of tiring, usually just over distances on the same planet, but with using the Tesseract he was able to magnify his own ability and travel universes. And that was without any training in how to use the item, just instinct.

It was the untrained way in which he harnessed the Tesseract's power that drained him somewhat depending on the distance he used it to travel. Normally one intergalactic trip would put just a slight dent in his power reserves, without using the Tesseract and porting to locations on the same planet the effort taken on his magic's core was minimal.

Fending off Proxima and her small army had taken a considerable amount of energy, all the while healing the wounds he was receiving. The nonexistent recovery time between porting trips had affected him more than he wanted to admit. Loki hated the feeling of being in a weakened state. Before his mind could dissolve into images of his past Loki looked towards Sofiya for a distraction.

She was busy making some type of nourishment but he cared nothing about that. Instead he just took in the sight of her. In the scenarios he had imagined his homecoming none of them had been as reality had played out. That did not matter now though, what mattered was that he was here with her, finally.

Loki gazed at her with unbiased eyes this time. Her oversized t-shirt settling halfway down her thighs. Loki found himself agitated with that piece of clothing as it hid her legging clad backside and hips that he wanted to feast his eyes upon. As she turned from the island counter where she was chopping some form of a vegetable and approached the sink he got a glance of the shirt hugging the material of her leggings.

From fleeting touches he knew that her skin was supple, her body framed with soft curves just the right size for him to grasp. He could never chance any form of a firm grip, her hips bones would be easily broken without any effort on his part in just a moment of misplaced concentration. Knowing he could not touch did not stop him from looking though.

His eyes lazily traveled over every inch of her he could, trying to implant the image into his brain perfectly so he could recall every detail later once she was no longer in his presence. His eyes made there way to the planes of her face and his breath caught in his lungs, the warm chocolate colored eyes he was used to taking on an exotic caramel shade under the current lighting.

The long lashes that shadowed her pools of carmel were looking down leaving shadows that framed her cheek bones elegantly. Sofiya was too focused on what her hands were doing to notice his gaze, at least that was what he thought until her eyes lifted to meet his searching stare. The arches of her eyebrows rose just the smallest amount as the corners of her mouth rose and she graced him with a soft smile. Even with her features taking on a cheerfully welcoming look, her gaze was striking in its unwavering strength.

"I just need to throw these in the pan and dinner will be ready," Her smile got brighter before she dropped her gaze back to her task at hand.

To be continued…..

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As always please review! It gives me inspiration to write more and get chapters out faster and those that review also get treated to sneak peaks!


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